N.J. Zoo’s $2M Sea Turtle Recovery Center Finds New Partner

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — Essex County officials announced Friday that the Turtle Back Zoo will partner with a Northfield-based nonprofit to operate a $2 million sea turtle recovery center slated to open by the end of 2016.

According to county officials, the under-construction recovery center – the “first of its kind in New Jersey” – will be a sanctuary dedicated to nurturing and assisting the zoo’s namesake animal.

The county’s partner nonprofit, Sea Turtle Recovery, rehabilitates sick or injured sea turtles for their release back to the wild and educates the public on the important ecological role of sea turtles, threats endangering them and ways to protect their future, officials said.

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

In addition, the public will have close-up views of the turtles in the recovery tanks while also learning about the perils they face and current conservation efforts.

According to Essex County officials, 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.

“Currently, when endangered and threatened sea turtles wash ashore in New Jersey, they are given short-term care to stabilize them,” county officials stated. “If a sea turtle’s injury or illness requires long-term treatment, then it needs to be transported out of state. The Sea Turtle Recovery Center will provide this long-term rehabilitation and eliminate the long travel times.”

Once the turtles have regained their health, they will be released back into their natural habitats, officials stated.

According to a previous 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.

“Reducing these animals’ stress and possibly aiding in their survival is crucial. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has given the Sea Turtle Recovery the permits necessary for this important work, and STR is excited to establish our facility at Turtle Back Zoo” Sea Turtle Recovery Co-Executive Director Bill Deerr stated.

“It is estimated that only 1 in 10,000 sea turtles will make it to adulthood and every sea turtle’s life is important to the species survival,” Sea Turtle Recovery Co-Executive Director Brandi Biehl said. “I cannot express how it will feel to watch our first patients crawl back into the ocean to thrive.”

• See related article: N.J.’s Turtle Back Zoo Will Get Lions, Hyenas: $3.6M Exhibit Planned
• See related article: Turtle Back Zoo Opens $7M Giraffe Exhibit In N.J.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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