See Sea Turtles In NJ; Zoo Recovery Center Opens To Public

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Essex County officials announced Friday that the Prudential Sea Turtle Recovery Center at the Turtle Back Zoo is open to the public.

The much-anticipated recovery center is a county partnership with Northfield-based non-profit Sea Turtle Recovery, which will nurse cold-stunned or injured turtles back to health so they can be released back into the ocean.

According to a county news release, the new building has five recovery tanks, life support systems and an intensive care unit for more critically injured turtles. Zoo visitors will be able to see less critical patients while learning about the perils sea turtles face and what the public can do to help.

“Having the rehabilitation center on site fits into our mission of conservation and expands the potential for animal awareness,” Turtle Back Zoo Director Brint Spencer said.

Essex County officials announced plans to build the $2 million sea turtle center in June of 2016. According to a county news release, Comito Associates from Newark was awarded a $175,000 contract to design the sea turtle facility. Daskal Construction from Wallington was awarded a publicly bid contract for $1,979,800 to construct the exhibit.

The project is being funded with contributions from Prudential Insurance, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, PSE&G and the Matrix Development Group and from the Essex County Capital Improvement Budget, officials stated.

Zoo staff and the crew of Sea Turtle Recovery began prepping for their first inhabitants in December.

• See related article: $2M Sea Turtle Recovery Center Planned For Turtle Back Zoo
• See related article: WATCH: Turtle Back Zoo Preps For Injured Sea Turtles’ Arrival In N.J.

The new recovery center began accepting its first animal residents later that month, taking in 10 “cold-stunned” Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles from their previous home at the New England Aquarium in Massachusetts.

• See related article: ‘Cold-Stunned’ Sea Turtles Sheltered At N.J.’s Turtle Back Zoo

Photo: Sea Turtle Recovery

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