Hampton Bays, NY- A gigantic sea turtle- weighing in at nearly 400 pounds, was released by the New York Marine Rescue Center on Thursday at Tiana Beach in Hampton Bays. Officials at the NYMRC say “Queen”, the approximately 30-year-old, loggerhead sea turtle, was originally discovered stranded, near Bellport Bay back in July. Rescuers say “Queen” had been treated at their Riverhead facility for “debilitated turtle syndrome” – which is a mixture of “dehydration, malnutrition, starvation, fatigue, and buoyancy issue”.
Maxine Montello, Program Director of NYMRC says, “This is the largest sea turtle the NYMRC has had in rehabilitation and we believe one of the largest hard-shell turtle species that has been rehabilitated within our stranding network (Maine-Virginia).”
“Queen”- like most of the marine animals that pass through the NYMRC, has been outfitted with a real time tracker. You can follow along and watch where “Queen” and others like her travel on the NYMRC website.
Photo: NYMRC
