BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. -- Over 100 loggerhead turtles began their journey into the Atlantic Ocean, Monday.

The 120 turtles were hatched and raised at the NOAA fisheries' sea turtle facility in Galveston, Texas.

Monday morning, Fish and Wildlife agents released 96 of the turtles offshore in Ft. Pierce. The remaining 24 were turned loose into the Indian River Lagoon in Brevard County.

The turtles are part of a study that evaluates how well turtle excluder devices work on shrimp boats. Turtle excluder devices allow the turtles to escape fishing nets, while minimizing the loss of shrimp.