Two sea turtles have graduated from their aquarium and are spreading their fins out into the ocean off Singapore.
Louie, a green sea turtle, and Hawke, a hawksbill turtle, were rescued two years ago and sent to the S.E.A. Aquarium at Wild Resorts Sentosa for rehabilitation.
With support and assistance from the National Parks Board (NParks), aquarists at the resort have worked closely with them in the hopes that they would become well enough to go back to the sea on their own.
S.E.A. Aquarium has released a video sharing the happy occasion.
“It is an emotional moment for our team today to see Hawke and Louie return to the ocean,” said aquarist Kenneth Kwang Keng Hei. “But our end goal has always been to nurse these turtles back to health and release them back into their natural environment.”
But for Kwang and his colleagues, it was bittersweet. At only one week old, Louie arrived at the S.E.A. Aquarium in 2015 after being rescued from a drain. Hawke came to them suffering from malnutrition, a condition the staff believes resulted from being kept illegally as a pet. Both have grown into healthy adult sea turtles. The two of them gradually moved from the back-of-house areas to larger habitats in the facility to let them explore and interact with other marine life.
“Our team has spent more than two, exciting years caring for them like our babies,” he said. “And it is an aquarist’s dream to see our animals grow healthy after rehabilitation and return to the wild so they can contribute to the overall marine ecosystem.”
Both green sea turtles and hawksbill turtles are endangered species, which means that their populations are dangerously small — which is why conservationists are hoping Louie and Hawke will breed after returning to their natural habitats.
Hawke was released at Sisters’ Islands Marine Park while Louie was released in the waters of Pulau Semakau.
