Jorge the Turtle Freed after 41 years in captivity in Argentina
After nearly 40 years in captivity in Argentina, a sea turtle named Jorge has been returned to his natural home, the ocean.
On the 11th of April 2025, at about 60 years old and weighing 100 kilos, he was released 15 nautical miles from Mar del Plata.
Alejandro Saubidet, a marine biologist who led the project, told Clarín that, “As soon as it touched the water, it came out, with the temperature that was as we thought.”
Jorge was caught by fishers in early 1984 on a beach south of Buenos Aires. The animal had wounds and was weak from the cold since he is from a tropical species.
At the time, his immediate release was not considered, as the return of cold-blooded tropical animals to cold environments can prove fatal.
For this reason, Jorge was transferred to the old municipal aquarium of Mendoza, where he was exploited for 38 years.
Animal protection activists have been calling for his release for many years. The conditions at the Mendoza Aquarium “were unfavourable for his development,” according to the professionals of the interdisciplinary team of the Mar del Plata Aquarium.
In October 2022, Jorge was transferred to the Aquarium, where he received rehabilitation treatment for his reintegration into the ocean environment, which should have happened shortly after his capture.
The readaptation process included adapting to a larger space, salt water and developing his hunting skills. He was provided with crabs and small rays to stimulate his hunting instinct.
Biologists and veterinarians concluded that “Jorge’s instinct was intact” and that he was ready to return to his habitat.
Jorge is a Loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta), a species considered “endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Jorge is expected to migrate to the coasts of Uruguay and southern Brazil, his place of origin.
“When the water starts to cool, it goes north,” explained Saubidet, director of Biology at the Marine Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. To monitor his movements, Jorge carries a satellite tracker developed by Conicet researchers. Laura Prodocini, an expert in sea turtles, will be in charge of analysing the data.
