Myrtle turtle goes back to the wild

  • 2016-09-17
On September 10, Magnolia, a loggerhead sea turtle weighing 200lb, was able to return to the sea.

She had been at Myrtle Beach’s Ripley’s Aquarium since July, while the facility’s Animal Husbandry Team returned her to health.

Ripley’s director of husbandry, Tim Handsel, said the turtle needed a place to recover and recuperate, and that Magnolia was now eating normally, very active, and ready to return to the sea.

Last Saturday morning, hundreds of enthusiastic observers went to Huntington Beach State Park to watch the turtle go back to the sea. Magnolia seemed a bit unsure about the process and made a few stops on her way to the ocean, but began to move more quickly as she got nearer to the water. People cheered when she plopped into the surf, and kept an eye on her fin, which they could see through the waves.

Magnolia had been found in North Litchfield, where she was stranded on the beach. She was taken to Charleston’s South Carolina Aquarium, where the staff found her to be extremely underweight, covered in barnacles, and malnourished. She remained in Charleston until she was able to travel, then was brought to Myrtle Beach. Ripley’s Aquarium has rehabilitated and released nine turtles in 2016, with Magnolia the latest to return to the sea.

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