$2M Sea Turtle Recovery Center Planned For Turtle Back Zoo In West Orange

West Orange, NJ – Injured and sick sea turtles will soon have a much-needed sanctuary in North Jersey.

Essex County officials announced last week that plans are underway to construct a “Sea Turtle Recovery Center” at the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange.

The new facility will enable the zoo to enhance its mission of promoting conservation and preservation, and create a sanctuary to nurture and assist its namesake animals, county officials stated.

The new, 15,000-square-foot facility – slated to open by the end of 2016 - will be constructed next to the Sea Lion Sound exhibit and will include five recovery tanks, a “head start” display for cold-stunned juvenile turtles, and life support systems and rehabilitation areas for sicker turtles, officials said.

The public will also have close-up views of the turtles in the recovery tanks as well as educational materials, officials added.

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.

“This project is a great example of how zoos and animal rescue organizations can work together to save animals and raise the public’s awareness about the dangers animals face,” Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said.

According to a county news release, all six species of sea turtles found in U.S. waters are threatened or endangered. They face accidental capture from getting tangled in fishing gear and are losing natural nesting and feeding sites because of coastal development, poaching and pollution.

In New Jersey, there were 55 incidents of stranded sea turtles in 2013, which is more than double the number in previous years, officials said.

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File photo: Hawksbill Sea Turtle, Wikimedia Commons