Gulf State Park celebrated World Sea Turtle Day with turtle-themed programing throughout the day on Saturday, June 13, from the Nature Center to the Learning Campus.

At the fishing pier, State Park Naturalist Hillary Bryan demonstrated how park staff rescue sea turtles that are hooked by anglers and explained the process of what happens before releasing them. So far this year, staff at the Gulf State Park fishing pier have responded to 39 sea turtles that have been hooked by anglers and have successfully recovered and released 10 of those, a number that Bryan said is a better percentage than it seems. Last year at this same time, the park had only seen 10 sea turtles hooked in total.

To report a sea turtle sighting, stranded turtle or a nest on the beach, call 1-866-SEA-TURTLE (1-866-732-8878)