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TOPSAIL BEACH, N.C. -- Nearly two dozen rehabilitated sea turtles were released back into to the ocean Wednesday at Topsail Beach.

All 23 reptiles were treated at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center after being found sick or injured. They were sent back home in front of nearly 300 spectators, including children from area schools who chanted the turtles’ names as staff walked them one-by-one to the sea.

"It's happy to see turtles go back in the water and feel good," Raleigh resident Cal Madden said.

Karen Pennington came from Wrightsville Beach to watch the release; the rehabilitation center’s largest of the year. She bought front-row tickets at an auction.

“It was well worth the price and now we’ll look forward to supporting the turtle hospital,” she said.

That support couldn’t come at a better time. The facility has treated more turtles than usual this year, and hospital founder Jean Beasley says that’s due to the extreme temperatures North Carolina has seen over the past 12 months.

Beasely founded the turtle hospital almost 13 years ago but this is the first year she actually released a turtle.

"Turtle kisses are pretty great,” she said. “And I got to give that little guy a kiss on the top of the head."

One rare sea turtle that washed up in the U.K. is being treated at Topsail's sea turtle hospital. That turtle, named Willie, will be released next Wednesday.