A crowd gathered on the beach across from the Surf City Fire Department, craning their necks and holding their cameras like paparazzi. Their subjects, however, were not celebrities but rather sea turtles that were rehabilitated at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. Five sea turtles were released back into the Atlantic on Wednesday, June 3 — loggerhead turtles Alpha, Trails, Buxton and Masonboro, along with Lore, a Kemp’s Ridley.
Nancy Fahey, project coordinator for Wrightsville Beach Sea Turtle Project, helped rescue Masonboro nearly one year ago. Fahey responded to a call from Jordan Dickinson, an intern at the sea turtle hospital, who was Jet Skiing near Masonboro Island, and took the turtle straight to the center.
Staff members, volunteers and interns at the turtle hospital helped remove the heavy load of barnacles from the turtle and treated a cut caused by a boat strike to the turtle’s carapace.
Fahey said planning a sea turtle release is not a simple task.
“We have to look at how much beach there is at a given time of day due to the tide, so all that goes into play,” she said.
Fahey also attended the June 4 release to watch six more turtles – October, Camper, Coldie, River II, Theodore and Simon – return home.
October, a loggerhead, received treatment from veterinarians at North Carolina State University’s veterinary school due to strike from a boat motor propeller. The turtle’s front left flipper had to be amputated. Fahey described October as an “absolutely magnificent animal.”
Fahey was also familiar with Simon and Theodore.
“They were named for the three chipmunks. … Alvin had to stay [at the hospital] because he wasn’t ready yet,” she said.
Jasmine Medina grew attached to Camper, another loggerhead turtle, during her internship at the turtle hospital.
“Camper was the intern turtle,” she said.
Medina, who studied marine biology at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, completed her internship during the fall of 2014. In January 2015, she returned to the center as a volunteer. Her duties included changing tank filters and giving medicine to turtles.
Medina, along with three other interns who worked with Camper, walked the turtle to the ocean.
“I was crying,” she said.
Medina said she hopes to work with sea turtles in the future.
“This is my passion. This is what I want to do. I want to take care of these animals and put them back where they belong,” she said. “It’s an amazing feeling that I had a part in helping them get to that point.”
Fahey said several hundred people attended Thursday’s release.
“Everybody loves the turtles. It’s an unforgettable experience,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to anybody who didn’t feel a connection with those marine creatures who have overcome such odds. Some people never get to see a sea turtle in their lives. It’s a great opportunity.”
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