More than 1,000 baby sea turtles that washed ashore earlier this week, were returned to the sea on Friday.
The 1,500 baby turtles washed up on the beaches of Volusia, Flagler and St. Johns counties because of rough surf.
The turtles spent the past few days being cared for at the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet. Around 8:30 a.m. Friday, the turtles were loaded onto a boat to be taken to a Gulf Stream about 50 miles off shore.
It takes about six hours to get the turtles to sea where the turtles live. An average of 400 baby sea turtles wash up on shore each year. What is unusual this year is that 2,000 washed up over just a 2-week period because of the recent rough seas.
About 500 of the turtles that were brought into the Marine Science Center either died or are still being taken care of.
However three of the turtles are Kemp's Ridley turtles, an endangered species.
"The Kemp's Ridleys are extremely rare. It was great to see them. That means their numbers, hopefully, are increasing. That's a good thing. Even the three we saw was really good to see. We didn't see any leatherbacks this year, but that seems to be an every-other year thing anyway, and we saw them last year," said Michelle Bauer, a sea turtle specialist.
Marine experts says 1 in 1,000 baby sea turtles become adults, so returning the hatchlings into the sea in the Gulf Stream instead of struggling through dangerous waters to get there, gives them a better chance of survival.