SeaWorld San Diego Releases Rehabilitated Sea Turtle Back To Ocean

SAN DIEGO, CA — A rehabilitated sea turtle with a missing flipper was recently returned to the ocean, thanks to SeaWorld San Diego.

The green sea turtle named Georgia was released Thursday, a day before World Sea Turtle Day, to the South Bay area of San Diego.

"The return of an endangered species back to the ocean is why we do what we do, and of course we were very excited to see Georgia go back home," Kim Peterson, head of SeaWorld San Diego's Rescue Team, told Patch.

Georgia was rescued in October 2022 in San Diego Bay near Silver Strand.

A family visiting San Diego from Georgia spotted the green sea turtle floating from their boat, according to SeaWorld. They watched her for several hours before SeaWorld was called to help, and with assistance from the Coast Guard, Georgia was taken to SeaWorld's Rescue Center where she was stabilized.

The team discovered that Georgia was missing her left front flipper. Her wound was infected and had leeches. She was prescribed medication and received radiographs and a CT scan, according to SeaWorld.

"It is always impressive to see a turtle recuperate from an illness or injury," Peterson told Patch. "They do everything slowly, and the incremental steps they show us while they are healing are all celebrated."

Georgia can now swim and dive normally despite her missing flipper.

It is unknown how she lost her flipper. Peterson said Georgia could have lost her flipper from a fishing line or other debris, a bad interaction with a boat propeller, or a predator attack.

"Turtles in the wild do very well missing one or even two flippers, as long as the two remaining flippers are on opposite sides of the body and they can display normal movement and behavior," Peterson explained. "Georgia is swimming and foraging just as a normal turtle would."

Georgia was returned to a marine protected area in the South Bay, where there is a resident population of green sea turtles.

SeaWorld has rescued 3,207 turtles and reptiles to date, according to the theme park. In the last five years, the SeaWorld Rescue Team has rescued 866 sea turtles.

Green sea turtles are considered endangered, mainly due to entanglement in fishing equipment, ingestion of trash, beach development, and habitat degradation.