Brevard County

Brevard Zoo caring for 200 baby sea turtles rescued after Hurricane Ian

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — The Brevard Zoo’s Sea Turtle Healing Center is caring for more than 200 baby sea turtles that were rescued from the coast following Hurricane Ian.

The zoo said the babies include green loggerhead turtles and a few hawksbill sea turtles, most of them rescued from the Cape Canaveral area following the storm on Sept. 29.

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Zoo officials said it’s typical for major weather events like a hurricane to waylay baby sea turtles and that many sea turtles rehabilitation centers along the Atlantic coastline are seeing an influx in numbers.

While the turtles are at the center, zoo officials said they’re kept in a tank outfitted with enrichment items.

Read: Sea turtle rescued after eating fishing line to return to sea in Cocoa Beach

The babies will be released by boat back in the Atlantic once ocean conditions improve.

If you find a baby sea turtle on the beach, officials urge you to not place them back in the water and instead call Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1-888-404-3922 for rescue instructions. If you find distressed, sick, dead or injured sea turtles in Brevard County, you can contact the Sea Turtle Preservation Society at 321-676-1701.

Read: World’s toughest turtle? Survivor among 8 returned to ocean

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Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.