Hundreds of people gathered at Folly Beach County Park as Honey, Hope, and Buffalo entered the surf after rehabilitation at the South Carolina Aquarium. In an account published October 30, the aquarium described the earlier release of its 497th, 498th, and 499th sea turtle patients—a milestone reached through three very different recoveries.
All three had been hooked by fishermen. Honey, a loggerhead, also needed treatment for a shell wound and leeches. Hope, a Kemp’s ridley, arrived severely underweight. Buffalo, another Kemp’s ridley, had an additional complication: plastic appeared in a stool sample. Each received a treatment plan suited to those needs before being cleared to return to the ocean.
Behind that beach gathering was a larger network of care. The aquarium works with South Carolina’s wildlife agency and permitted transport volunteers to help injured turtles. Its hospital uses examinations, bloodwork, diagnostic imaging, and individualized care to prepare patients for release. The next turtle will leave when medically ready, rather than on a timetable set by the approaching 500th release. The account documents these animals’ recovery; it does not establish how they have fared since.
