Orange Beach expects to get sea turtle recovery facility by 2025

BY RUTH MAYO
Reporter
ruth@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 10/8/24

ORANGE BEACH — A sea turtle center will be coming to the Alabama Gulf Coast to serve as a closer location to bring injured sea turtles for medical care and rehabilitation. Nicole Woerner from …

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Orange Beach expects to get sea turtle recovery facility by 2025

Posted

ORANGE BEACH — A sea turtle center will be coming to the Alabama Gulf Coast to serve as a closer location to bring injured sea turtles for medical care and rehabilitation.

Nicole Woerner from the Orange Beach Coastal Resources Department said this facility will be like something similar to "a freestanding ER for sea turtles." The center, projected to open by the summer of 2025, will not be open to the public but will provide a valuable location for sea turtle recovery.

"Currently, if a sea turtle is injured or has a superficial wound or hook in its mouth, the turtle has to be transported over an hour away to facilities out of state," Woerner said.


Woerner said the sea turtles found injured or stranded on the Alabama coast currently must be sent to the Gulfarium center in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. This transportation process can add stress to the turtles that are already declining in health, and some have not been able to survive the trip.

"This facility will provide a local space for a sea turtle to be checked more quickly," Woerner said.

The center will be staffed with veterinarians who can determine if a sea turtle will require more serious medical attention, leading to transportation to a sea turtle hospital. Long term housing for the sea turtles is not expected, but a space in the facility will be available if the need were to arise.

The facility is being funded by the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage funds received as a settlement from the oil spill in 2010. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is over the restoration work these funds are used for.

Woerner said the building will look like "a basic metal structure."