7 turtles released in front of largest crowd ever!

Sunday's release of 7 sea turtles attracted an epic crowd of well over a thousand onlookers and brings the South Carolina Aquarium to 90 releases since 2000. Enjoy the photos!

Aerial view of sea turtle release taken by IOP friend and pilot, Nicholas Johannes.  WOW!

The Hollands, Tyson, Mary, Mason and Zach, release Mason (Kemp's ridley) and Eclipse (hybrid). Thanks for the ride into Charleston and the lift out to sea! 

Beautiful reflection of Mason on the sand as he pauses before heading into the water.

With the help of William, Sea Turtle Hospital Volunteer Machelle Morningstar released Andrew, the Kemp's ridley that was medically cleared the very morning of release. So happy he could go!

SCDNR's Amy Gutierrez released the Kemp's ridley, Eastham, with Kendall holding the name card.

Innis, a Kemp's ridley sea turtle, was released by hospital volunteer, Ann Connellee, and Charlie held the name card for the crowd to see.

With the help of card holder Lilly, hospital volunteer Elaine Warren releases the Kemp's ridley, Sampson.

Be safe out there little turtles!!

Hospital interns Caroline and Vicki release Little River, the boat strike loggerhead that was admitted last summer. Hunter and William from Team Tortuga carried the name cards.

Little River has a short crawl on the sand. What a beautiful loggerhead!

We would like to thank everyone that helped with the rescue, rehabilitation and release of these turtles. And huge thanks to all that came out to the Isle of Palms to make this such an amazing day. Many were eager to join us for this first release of the season and we are grateful for the support!

Kelly Thorvalson

Sea Turtle Rescue Program Manager

Eclipse's First Live Crab Encounter

From what we’ve learned in the previous blog about Eclipse, the unique hybrid turtle has a lot to figure out when it comes to his diet. His head size and two prefrontal scutes are characteristic of a green sea turtle but his beak shape and lack of a serrated jaw are more in line with his maternal side, a loggerhead. Since arriving at the South Carolina Aquarium, hospital staff and volunteers have offered an array of greens to Eclipse, none of which he has been even slightly interested in eating. This past week we decided to test his loggerhead hunting skills by offering a live blue crab and were we ever surprised!

As you can see in the video, Eclipse exhibits loggerhead behavior in his enthusiasm for blue crabs. He had no problems eating the claws but getting the body in his mouth was a challenge. Only once did he get the whole crab into his mouth but didn't seem to have the jaw strength to crush the shell. So the big question is, as he grows, will he have the head size and jaw muscles to consume the hard shelled prey that he is obviously interested in eating?

Whitney Daniel
Sea Turtle Biologist