Recovery era complete, cold-stunned turtles named for Taylor Swift songs released
Nineteen endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles named for Taylor Swift songs finished their ‘recovery era’ and were released back into the wild on Wednesday.
The Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, one of the most critically endangered types of sea turtles, were rehabilitated by the Mississippi Aquarium as a part of a now 5-year-old program to care for cold-stunned sea turtles found in New England waters.
This year, inspired by Taylor Swift and The Eras Tour stop in New Orleans, Dr. Alexa Delaune, who is the Vice President of Veterinary Services and Research for the aquarium, and her team decided to name all of the sea turtles they took in after Taylor Swift songs.
On Wednesday, sporting tiny beaded friendship bracelets similar to the ones Swifties trade, sea turtles Betty, Clean, 22, Cardigan, The Bolter, Peter, Mastermind, August, Haunted, Dress, Love Story, Hey Stephen, Breathe, The Alchemy, All Too Well, Champagne Problems, Treacherous, Afterglow and Cassandra were released back into the Sound from Biloxi Beach. The bracelets were cut off prior to the release and kept as keepsakes by the staff.
Dr. Delaune said the Swiftie-inspired names were a push to get the public more interested in the turtles.
“We were hoping the Swifties would want to adopt their favorite turtle,” she said. “Or even, maybe, if Taylor Swift herself wanted to donate money we’d call it the Taylor Swift Hospital for Turtles.”
Cold-stunning is when sea turtles get hypothermia-like symptoms after long-term cold water exposure, weakening them and increasing their chances of other health problems. According to Dr. Delaune, the cost to rehabilitate each turtle is upward of $500.
Dr. Delaune says caring for the sea turtles is, “a labor of love, but every year it’s worth it and we get to touch more people when they come out to these releases.”
“This year I saw someone crying,” she said. “It’s clearly very heart-wrenching and emotional and exciting for the public, most people never know when they’ll get to see another sea turtle.”
This year the Mississippi Aquarium — with assistance from Turtles Fly Too, an organization that flies turtles to their rehabilitation destination — took in 60 cold-stunned sea turtles, so there are more turtle releases still to come. Dr. Delaune says the aquarium does about 5 to 7 releases a year. The releases are open to the public and posted ahead of time on the aquarium’s Facebook page.
The aquarium also offers a sponsorship program for the turtles. Turtle lovers can select a turtle to sponsor for $30 and receive a certificate and updates on the turtle’s rehabilitation and release. On Wednesday, members of the sponsorship program helped with the release of some of the turtles.
The Mississippi Aquarium is just one of many organizations across the country that cares for cold-stunned sea turtles every year. Locally, the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies also cares for and releases cold-stunned Kemp’s ridley sea turtles.
This story was originally published March 13, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
