Community Corner

Foundation to Release First Sea Turtles of the Season

This event will happen on Saturday at the Ponquogue Beach in Hampton Bays.

On Saturday, the Riverhead Foundation is set to release five sea turtles back into the wild — they are the first rehabilitated turtles to be set free this season.

The turtles, Banzai, Sebastian, Cody, Tommy the Turtle and Doc will be sent off at the Ponquogue Beach in Hampton Bays at 6 p.m.

The turtles all arrived at the foundation after they were found over the winter suffering from profound cold stunning otherwise known as hypothermia.

Banzai was the first stunned sea turtle of the 2012 season, entering the foundation on November 9, 2012. Cody was picked up on November 20, 2012 with Sebastian arriving on November 25 and Tommy the turtle the very next day.

The four turtles are all Atlantic green sea turtles and the foundation said that in the wild they will have the chance to grow to 500 pounds.

Doc, meanwhile, is a Kemp's ridley sea turtle, who arrived at the foundation on December 6, 2012. he is the smallest sea turtle species found in local waters and the most endangered.

The foundation says that Adult Kemp's ridley sea turtles can grow to be about 150 pounds.

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