After nearly four decades in a tank, this sea turtle is finally free
Jorge, taken from the wild in 1984, has travelled more than 2,700km since his release, offering hope for the future of other captive sea turtles.
After nearly four decades in captivity, a loggerhead turtle has finally been released back into the ocean.
Jorge, the 220-pound sea turtle, was returned to the Atlantic Ocean on April 11. Since then, he has swam more than 2,700 kilometers north to the coast of Brazil, successfully making his way through the most challenging stages of reintroduction to the wild.
Jorge was captured in 1984 after a group of fishermen found him injured and entangled in fishing nets in Bahía Blanca, in the province of Buenos Aires. Instead of being released, he was taken to the old municipal aquarium in Mendoza, where he spent 37 years circling a 5,300-gallon saltwater pool, just 1.5 feet deep, surviving on a diet of boiled eggs and meat.
For years, animal activists fought for Jorge’s release, and in 2021, pressure ramped up when more than 60,000 people signed a petition calling for his return to the wild. Backed by legal action, the campaign succeeded. Marine biologists launched a three-year rehabilitation program to prepare Jorge for his return to the ocean.
In October 2022, Jorge was transferred to the Marine Fauna Rehabilitation Center in Mar del Plata, where he had to relearn how to hunt, navigate currents, and avoid predators.
“In three years, we managed to get him to recover the instinct he had almost lost,” marine biologist Alejandro Saubidet, who led Jorge’s re-education, told National Geographic. “We had to see if it was feasible to return him to the environment.”
Researchers adjusted saltwater levels, increased the water depths, and challenged him to compete for food.
“Little by little, we taught him to chase after prey,” said Saubidet. “The first time we threw in a ray, Jorge thought it was food and went after it, but when he saw it move, he got scared.”
As the rehabilitation went on, Jorge’s instincts gradually reemerged - he began vocalizing more frequently and even started building shelters, signs that his natural behaviors were returning.
Then, on April 11, around 40 years after being taken from the wild, Jorge was finally released into the Atlantic, equipped with a satellite tracker that has enabled researchers to monitor his health and progress.
This data has tracked his journey across the coast of Uruguay to Brazil. Since reaching warmer waters, he has slowed down his pace and is currently swimming off the coast of Santa Catarina.
“This is what he was meant for,” a member of the Mundo Marino team who oversaw Jorge’s release told Freedom for Animals. “We cannot reverse the years he spent in a tank, but we can give him the ocean now.”
With 41 years in captivity, Jorge has spent more time in captivity than any sea turtle in the world. His story of resilience and recovery is evidence that even after decades in confinement, animals can return to and thrive in the wild.
Animal advocates are hopeful that his groundbreaking success story could pave the way for the release of other captive sea turtles around the world.
Lulu is being held in SeaLife, Brighton. Photo: Moving Animals
Free Lulu and Gulliver
Jorge’s story has also renewed hope that the world’s oldest captive green sea turtle and her companion could be granted their freedom to live their final years in peace.
82-year-old green sea turtle Lulu, was reportedly taken from the wild as a tiny hatchling back in the 1940s by a TV advertising agency to star in an advertisement for soap. For the last twenty years, the elderly turtle has been kept in a single tank at Sea Life Brighton, the world’s oldest aquarium.
Animal advocacy group Close SeaLife has set up a campaign calling for her freedom, and is also asking Sea Life to commit to taking no more turtles into captivity in Lulu’s name.
Sea Life claims that Lulu and her companion Gulliver would not survive in the wild due to their long time in captivity. But, as Freedom for Animals points out, Jorge's release dismantles that argument.
“The difference is not ability, but willingness,” said Laura Walton, Campaigns Manager at Freedom for Animals. “Jorge was given a chance. Lulu and Gulliver have only ever been given unjustifiable excuses.”
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Jorge, taken from the wild in 1984, has travelled more than 2,700km since his release, offering hope for the future of other captive sea turtles.