The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies released along with volunteers five rehabilitated Kemp's Ridley sea turtles, but not before the animals were blessed with holy water by the local Rev. Louis Lohan.
The turtles were rescued in 2012 and were treated at IMMS for serious injuries, according to the Sun Herald.
One of the turtles, named Chipper after the town's mayor, was outfitted with a satellite transmitter prior to release. Its movements will be tracked publicly on the IMMS website.
The other turtles included Sunshine, Garfield, Nicky and Diva, as well as one green sea turtle named Greenie Beanie.
"The Kemp's Ridley is the most endangered of all sea turtle species," IMMS President Moby Solangi told the Sun Herald.
The species is protected by various international treaties and agreements, including the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, which restricts its international trade.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Fisheries Office of Protected Resources, the Kemp’s Ridley, which are distributed largely throughout the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Atlantic seaboard, has experienced a dramatic decrease in nesting sizes since 1947 from an estimated 42,000 to just 200 annually between 1978 and 1991.
However, this number has increased steadily over the past decade peaking in 2009 at just over 20,000.
A possible reason for this increase is the development of turtle excluder devices (TEDs), which reduce the mortality of sea turtles incidentally captured in shrimp trawl gear. Furthermore, the U.S. has prohibited the importation of shrimp harvested in a manner with adverse effects on sea turtles.
Furthermore, egg collection of the species was outlawed in 1966 and no longer poses a major threat to the animal.
Unfortunately, according to the National Wildlife Federation, the Kemp’s Ridley were the hardest hit sea turtle species by the BP oil spill: of 600 dead turtles, 500 were Kemp’s Ridley.