The Clearwater Marine Aquarium will release JoJo, an adult Loggerhead sea turtle on Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m. The release will take place on Clearwater Beach behind the Palm Pavilion restaurant at 10 Bay Esplanade. The public is invited to watch.
JoJo was rescued and rehabilitated by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium during the recent cold snap. JoJo was afflicted with “cold stun”, a condition which occurs in sea turtles when the water temperature drops lower than the turtle’s body temperature. The metabolic rate ((the amount of energy expended in a give period) of the cold-blooded animal consequently drops, and the turtles will stop swimming and eating. Sea turtles are left floating, and sometimes wash ashore. “Cold stun” is similar to hypothermia in humans.
4,500 sea turtles were afflicted with “cold stun” throughout the state of Florida, and 105 sea turtles were treated by the Clearwater Marine Aquarium staff and volunteers. Nineteen of those rehabilitated sea turtles have been released at Juno Beach, and the Clearwater Marine aquarium released 46 sea turtles last week at Honeymoon Island. There will be one more round of sea turtle releases.
For more information on the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, go to www.seawinter.com.
