A green sea turtle found tangled in fishing line in the San Gabriel River was released back into the ocean Friday in Seal Beach after a three-month recovery at Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific.
During a routine check in the San Gabriel River in early July, the female turtle was discovered by workers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The workers found fishing line wrapped around her front flippers and cutting into her mouth.
The 132-pound turtle was taken into Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific, where veterinarians removed the fishing line and sewed the wounds.
After three months of recovery, the green sea turtle returned to the wild Friday. The morning of her release, a crowd of about 30 people gathered in the mid-morning sun at Seal Beach.
Brittany Stevens, an Aquarium of the Pacific veterinarian who worked on rehabilitating the released turtle, was among the crowd. She said that fishing line is a consistent threat to the animals.
“It’s probably one of the No. 1 things we see for animals that come to us needing care, is some sort of fishing interaction, whether that be discarded lines or hooks,” Stevens said. “So we always encourage folks not to cut their lines and let it go so animals like her don’t get entangled or potentially eat it.”
East Pacific green sea turtles, a species primarily found on California’s coast, are categorized as a threatened species. Nesting in Mexico and traveling up to California over the summer, the turtles are primarily threatened by debris like fishing line, boats and accidental capture in fishing nets, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“Their numbers in the wild are low. So each one we save is important,” Stevens said.
The river area where the turtle was found is an essential habitat for the species, according to Dawn Nygren-Burkert, Aquarium of the Pacific’s conservation volunteer coordinator, who tracks sea turtle activity.
Nygren-Burkert said trash and urban waste are the main threats to the river and surrounding wetlands but are mitigated by volunteer-led local aquarium monitoring and wetland restoration efforts.
City representatives, lifeguards and passing surfers stopped to watch and take photos as the turtle was raised from the aquarium truck and set on the sand, held by its shell by volunteers.
A little girl in the crowd screamed in delight when, in a twist, the turtle shuffled away from the sea and toward the people gathered on the sand. Volunteers quickly hoisted the rebellious turtle back to the shore break, where, eventually, she dove back into the waves.
