Sea turtle rehabilitation centres worldwide care for injured, sick, and stranded turtles. Understanding the welfare principles behind rehabilitation helps support high-quality programmes.
Sea turtle rehabilitation presents welfare challenges that span acute care, long-term housing, and the release decision. In the acute phase, injured turtles often arrive in states of shock, hypothermia, or with traumatic injuries requiring immediate stabilisation. Long-term housing for extended rehabilitation must accommodate the turtles' needs for appropriate water temperature, UV exposure, clean water, appropriate diet, and sufficient space for normal swimming. The release decision is welfare-critical: a turtle that cannot dive to appropriate depths, locate prey, or avoid predators and boats has poor prospects in the wild. Permanent care for unreleasable animals requires high-quality facilities that maintain welfare across potentially decades of captive life. Welfare assessment protocols specific to sea turtles are increasingly available to guide these decisions.