- November 1, 2024
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Jenifer Prine, summer intern, and Jen Brueggen, hospital volunteer, walk to the shore to release Gene Johnson and Seafoam into the ocean. Photo by Paige Wilson
Gene Johnson flips a flipper before the release. Photo by Paige Wilson
Jen Brueggen, hospital volunteer, holds Seafoam before the release. Photo by Paige Wilson
Jenifer Prine, summer intern, walks with Gene Johnson so members of the crowd can take photos before the release. Photo by Paige Wilson
Jenifer Prine, summer intern, holds up sea turtle Gene Johnson. Photo by Paige Wilson
Jen Brueggen, hospital volunteer, and Jenifer Prine, summer intern, get ready to release Seafoam and Gene Johnson into the ocean. Photo by Paige Wilson
Jen Brueggen, hospital volunteer, carries Seafoam so onlookers can take photos before the release. Photo by Paige Wilson
Jen Brueggen, hospital volunteer, releases Seafoam into the ocean at River to Sea Preserve. Photo by Paige Wilson
St. Augustine resident Nani Gorgon, 8, welcomes the sea turtles with a homemade sign. Photo by Paige Wilson
With a cheering crowd surrounding them, Seafoam and Gene Johnson — two juvenile green sea turtles — swam off into the Atlantic Ocean after being rehabilitated at the University of Florida Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience in Marineland.
Devon Rollingson, veterinary technician with the lab, said the release of the two turtles on Tuesday, Aug. 14, at the River to Sea Preserve area, makes a total of 21 releases with the lab. She said that Seafoam was brought in on Feb. 23 from Marineland Beach, and Gene Johnson was found on June 7 at the Intracoastal side of Summer Haven in St. Augustine, off of Gene Johnson Road.
The sea turtles were found with fibropapillomatosis (known as FP), a tumor disease that's affecting marine turtles globally. They had multiple surgeries before they were ready for release.
Rollingson said that the turtles are tagged, and should they ever be picked up in the ocean for another reason, the lab would be notified of their whereabouts.
