A dozen sea turtles returned to the wild Tuesday after several months of being treated for injuries and illnesses on the Georgia coast.

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TREATS, RELEASES LAST OF POISONED BALD EAGLES INTO WILD

Kemps ridley sea turtles

Newly hatched Kemps ridley sea turtles make their way out to the Gulf of Mexico from Louisianas Chandeleur Islands. Eight Kemps ridleys that were treated at a Georgia wildlife center after being found cold stunned off the Massachusetts coast  were among the 12 released back into the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday. (Louisiana Coastal Protection & Restoration Authority)

A crowd gathered on the beach at Jekyll Island as staff members from the Georgia Sea Turtle Center waded into the ocean with their hard-shelled patients and turned them loose in the water. The center opened on the island in 2007 as Georgia’s veterinary hospital for sick and injured sea turtles.

LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLE RELEASED AFTER REHABBING IN FLORIDA

Eight of those released Tuesday were Kemp’s ridley sea turtles that arrived in November after being found cold stunned by frigid waters off Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

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The other four were green sea turtles that had recovered from different injuries and ailments. The turtle requiring the longest rehabilitation arrived at the center in August after being struck and wounded by a boat.