At Long Beach's Aquarium of the Pacific, sea turtle rehab is no longer tucked out of sight. A new public-facing treatment area has opened that lets visitors watch injured turtles receive care and has effectively doubled the aquarium's on-site capacity, from one or two turtles at a time to as many as four.
The first patient to move in is Porkchop, a roughly 85-pound green sea turtle that arrived with a fishing hook lodged near her throat and a front flipper that was largely necrotic and later amputated.
New Rehab Space Puts Care On View
The new wing features a roughly 4,000-gallon pool and a viewing window so staff can monitor treatments in real time while the public looks on, according to the Los Angeles Times. Veterinarian Dr. Lance Adams told the outlet that Porkchop's blood work, appetite, behavior, weight and X-rays have all been "normal" following surgery.
Aquarium President Jeffrey Flocken said the added space should cut down on the number of turtles that have to be diverted elsewhere when things get crowded. Porkchop, formally logged as CM2502, had about 90 percent of her front flipper removed because of necrosis and later underwent a second procedure to retrieve a migrated fishing hook, the Los Angeles Times reported.
San Gabriel River Monitoring Shows A Local Population
Local turtles are not exactly rare guests. Volunteers have been running monthly surveys of green sea turtles near the mouth of the San Gabriel River since 2012, and a 2023 study in the journal Animals found a year-round presence there and rising sightings over time, with more than 100 individual turtles documented in that stretch of the river.
The Aquarium of the Pacific operates the Southern California Sea Turtle Monitoring Project, training citizen scientists to log sightings that are then shared with NOAA and local managers. More information is available from the Aquarium of the Pacific. Aquarium staff say that ongoing monitoring is a big reason they wanted a visible, on-site rehab area that can support both hands-on care and public education.
Regional Rescue Capacity Is Limited
Across Southern California, only a small number of facilities can handle long-term sea turtle care. With its expansion, the Aquarium of the Pacific now joins SeaWorld San Diego as one of the region's dedicated rehab centers, giving rescuers more local options when cold-stunning events, boat strikes or fishing-gear entanglements surge.
SeaWorld's San Diego program lays out the steps its rescue team uses to stabilize and rehabilitate turtles, highlighting why having extra capacity along the coast can make a real difference in how quickly animals are released.
How To Report A Turtle In Distress
If you spot an entangled or stranded sea turtle in the Long Beach area, call the West Coast Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Network hotline at 562-506-4315 so trained responders can be dispatched. Volunteer sign-ups and reporting guidance are available through the Aquarium of the Pacific.
Aquarium staff point to community science and cleaner waterways as the two biggest factors in keeping turtles out of trouble in the first place.
Porkchop remains under care for now but could be released in as little as two weeks if her recovery continues on track. Aquarium leaders say the new public rehab window is designed to make that kind of rescue work more visible and to encourage safer fishing practices and less debris in local waters.
