The turtle freed after 41 years in captivity
Witness History
BBC
4.5 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 10 April 2026
⏱️ 12 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
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Summary
In 1984, loggerhead sea turtle Jorge became trapped in fishing nets and was moved to an aquarium in Mendoza.
He was kept in captivity for more than 40 years until legal action and a campaign led to the closure of the aquarium and his release in 2025.
But, where is he now?
Megan Jones asks marine biologist Alejandro Saubidet, who was in charge of his rehabilitation.
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by and curious about the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
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(Photo: Jorge. Credit: Andres Larrovere/via Getty)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, music, radio podcasts. |
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| 0:38.9 | Hello, you're listening to Witness History with me, Megan Jones. |
| 0:43.1 | If you're already one of our regular listeners, you know the drill. You can jump ahead |
| 0:46.7 | of it. But if you're new here, then welcome. Here's what we do. We look at one moment in |
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| 1:04.3 | I want to tell you the story of an unexpected celebrity, a loggerhead sea turtle, or to give |
| 1:09.5 | it its scientific name, Coretta Corretta, |
| 1:11.7 | called Jorge. After being captured, he spent more than 40 years in captivity, becoming a |
| 1:16.5 | favourite among school children, while also sparking petitions and legal action demanding his release. |
| 1:23.0 | It's 1984 and Rimbablanca, a port city in Argentina's Buenos Aires province. |
| 1:29.3 | It's where Jorge's journey begins. |
| 1:31.3 | But to tell you more, we need to climb on board a fishing boat. |
| 1:34.5 | With marine biologist Alejandro's Salbadet from the Aquarian Mar del Plata, step carefully, the deck is a bit wet. |
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