by Robert Stanton

HOUSTON, May 24 (Xinhua) -- As it inched closer to the Gulf of Mexico, the Kemp's Ridley turtle picked up its pace, digging its flippers into the moist sand. And just like that, it disappeared beneath the warm waters.

For the marine biologists who organized the endangered turtle release on Wednesday in Galveston, just south of Houston, U.S. Texas, it was Mission Accomplished, just on the occasion of the World Turtle Day.

"Some of these turtles had boat strike injuries and are a missing a little bit of their flippers," said Ben Higgins to Xinhua, sea turtle program director at NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Fisheries Galveston Laboratory.

"Some of them had skull injuries and a lot of them were caught by recreation hook and line by fishermen along the beach piers. Now they're healthy enough to be released," said Higgins.

Ten Kemp's Ridley sea turtles and a 250-pound Loggerhead turtle were returned to their natural habitat with a new lease on life. They underwent months of rehabilitation at the NOAA laboratory and received veterinary care at Galveston's Moody Gardens and the Houston Zoo.

"They're all juveniles so they're not going to come back for 10 to 15 years," Higgins said. "The nesting season is between April and June, so we're right in the nesting season for mature Kemp's Ridley turtles now."

Martha Parker, conservation impact manager at the Houston Zoo, said the conservation effort is vital to ensure the health of the endangered turtles. She joined about 250 spectators who arrived at Stewart Beach to witness the turtle releases.

"It's critically important that we protect these local species that are in our backyard," she said. "It's really special that we have five different species of turtles here on our Gulf Coast -- Green Sea turtle, Hawksbill turtle, Kemp's Ridley turtle, Leatherback turtle, and the Loggerhead turtle."

Parker pointed to a Kemp's Ridley turtle that made its way to the gulf waters. "This one's missing a flipper, but sea turtles can survive with three flippers. They can swim just fine if everything else is healthy."

Sea turtles along the Texas coast face many threats, especially becoming entangled in plastic trash. "We really try to promote to people to reduce their plastic consumption like plastic bags and plastic bottles, and switch to more reusable options to help these guys," Parker said.

Tiffany Licona, who lives in Greater Houston area, said she woke up early to take her one-year-old daughter, Brantley, and her grandparents to see the turtle release. She learned about the event from a Houston Zoo email sent out the previous night.

"I have a huge love for animals, that's why I want her to see that, too," Licona said. "We were talking about it on the way here how the zoo's doing so much work to rehabilitate these turtles and release them, and I just wanted her to pick up that."