Sea turtle released into wild after head start program at Riverbanks Zoo

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — According to zookeepers with Riverbanks Zoo and Garden, it is estimated that only one out of every 1,000 sea turtles in the wild survive to adulthood.

Destiny is a green sea turtle who has called Riverbanks Zoo her home for the past two years after being collected as a tiny hatchling from the Grand Strand area.

She has been a part of the zoo’s Head Start program — allowing turtles to thrive under the care of aquarists and ensure more of the endangered species make it to adulthood.

With the help from folks at the SC Dept. of Natural Resources, and the SC United Turtle Enthusiasts, Destiny makes the journey from Columbia to Georgetown to be released into a quiet inlet.

Kendra Bottini with Riverbanks Zoo says hatchlings are at a great risk of being picked off by other animals. The Head Start program helps ensure survival and hopefully reproduction.

“Us being able to raise them up instead of them going into the wild at say less than a pound, they’re going into the wild at more than 20 pounds. So that two years of extra time learning how to swim and how to forage, and gaining some weight and size really gives them a good chance at survival,” says Bottini.

Aquarist Sarah Weaver says release day is always a beautiful one.

“It’s definitely kind of bittersweet because we put so much care and attention into our turtles, but just knowing that they’re going to go out and hopefully put back into the species and the ecosystem, and continue the cycle and continue in the wild, kind of softens the blow a little bit,” says Weaver.

Before being released, Destiny is implanted with a scannable identification chip.

“If she crawls up on a beach decades from now, and somebody sees her they can scan her get that number, and then all of the tagging data is entered into a database and we would ultimately be contacted giving indication that somebody has laid eyes on that turtle,” says Biologist Jeffrey Schwenter with SC Dept. of Natural Resources.

And just recently a new green sea turtle hatchling — yet to be named –has arrived at Riverbanks Zoo to join the Head Start program.

Terry Graham with SCUTE says personality plays a role in which turtles get picked.

“We always wanna pick a good, feisty, one so they put on a good show for the zoo and everybody that comes to the zoo,” Graham says.

The baby turtle will be allowed to grow behind the scenes for the next few months before joining a habitat at the zoo.