After a few months of record sea turtle strandings in Massachusetts and many hours caring for these animals, the New England Aquarium’s Marine Animal Rescue Team was itself “rescued” by the United States Coast Guard.

After a special request for help, the U.S. Coast Guard airlifted 20 Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles from the Mystic Aquarium to a rehabilitation center at SeaWorld, Orlando, Florida. The turtles were transported from the Aquarium’s Rescue Center to Hanscom AFB, where they were loaded into a Coast Guard C-144A Ocean Sentry aircraft and flown to Florida.

All the turtles arrived safely and will be rehabilitated before being released back into the wild. (All images by US Coast Guard).