SeaWorld Orlando Returns Nine Rehabilitated Green Sea Turtles to the Atlantic After an Unusually Cold Winter
Nine green sea turtles went back into the Atlantic this week, and every one of them arrived at SeaWorld Orlando months ago in rough shape. The park's rescue team released the group at River to Sea Preserve in Marineland, in Flagler County, closing out a rehabilitation effort that started with an unusually cold Florida winter and a wave of cold-stunned turtles.
The quick version: Nine rehabilitated green sea turtles went back to the wild this week, with SeaWorld Orlando announcing the release on July 17, 2026. Most came in with cold stress and severe malnutrition, one needed extensive repair to its shell, and all of them spent months in care before being cleared for release. SeaWorld Orlando has now rescued 38 sea turtles in 2026 and returned 27 of them to the wild.
The nine turtles return to the water at River to Sea Preserve in Marineland. Image via Amusement Today.
A cold winter, and a lot of thin turtles
Sea turtles are reptiles, so a sharp drop in water temperature does not just make them uncomfortable, it can shut their systems down. Nick Ricci, a zoological specialist at SeaWorld Orlando, described what the team was seeing:
These turtles stranded for various reasons. Most of them, though, stranded due to cold stress. We had a really, really cold winter here in Florida, and that made their body a little bit too chilly, which impacted their health.
Ricci said many of them also arrived badly underfed:
A lot of them came in emaciated, completely thin, underweight.
Getting them back to release condition took months of veterinary care, including diagnostics and nutritional support. One turtle needed considerably more than that. Its shell needed extensive repair, damage believed to have come from a collision with a boat. Ricci described the work:
Thirty-eight rescued so far this year
Year to date, SeaWorld Orlando has rescued 38 sea turtles, with 27 of those now back in the ocean. The park's rescue team operates year-round and describes itself as on call around the clock, which is how stranded turtles along Florida's Atlantic coast end up in an Orlando rehabilitation pool. Ricci put it plainly:
Our team, we will stop at nothing. We're always on call. We always want to say yes. When there's an animal in need, we want to be there to help them
Cold-stunning events tend to arrive in clusters, so one bad cold snap can send a batch of animals into rehab at the same time. Most of this group stranded for that reason, and after months of care they are back in the ocean.
Sources
WKMG News 6: SeaWorld Orlando returns 9 rehabilitated green sea turtles to Atlantic Ocean
WSVN 7News: SeaWorld Orlando returns 9 rehabilitated green sea turtles to the Atlantic Ocean
WFTV Channel 9: Nine green sea turtles returned to the Atlantic Ocean
Amusement Today: Nine rehabilitated sea turtles are back in the wild
Image credits: Release photo via Amusement Today. Beach photo via WKMG News 6.
