Rescue mission aids cold-stunned turtles

By Doug Fraser

dfraser@capecodonline.com

December 08, 2009 2:00 AM

WELLFLEET — Except for the occasional blink of an eye or turn of a head, it was hard to tell the living from the dead yesterday morning.

A total of 24 cold-stunned rare and endangered sea turtles were picked up off Cape Cod Bay beaches between Sunday afternoon and early yesterday morning, one of the largest single-day totals ever, according to Robert Prescott, director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

Inside the sanctuary headquarters yesterday morning, staffer Michelle Stantial cleaned the turtles off, weighed and measured them, and prepared the survivors for shipping in cardboard crates lined with blankets to the New England Aquarium in Boston.

Five turtles were shipped on Sunday; of those, four died.

As of yesterday morning, four more endangered Kemp's ridley turtles had died at the sanctuary. The remaining 15, which were all ridleys except for one green sea turtle, were taken to the New England Aquarium for treatment and rehabilitation. At least two of those were dead on arrival, meaning their heartbeats were lower than one beat per minute.

The aquarium is currently treating 52 sea turtles — one loggerhead, four greens and 47 Kemp's ridleys, said spokesman Tony LaCasse.

"We knew it would be a big day," said Massachusetts Audubon naturalist Dennis Murley. "Those are some lucky turtles."

As a cold front bringing high winds swept over the Cape this weekend, Audubon sanctuary staff and trained volunteers marshaled people to walk night patrols from Dennis to Wellfleet. They were aided by volunteers during the day and received numerous tips from others walking the beaches, Murley said. Most of the turtles were found on Brewster beaches.

This year's balmy fall kept offshore water temperatures from dipping below 50 degrees until this weekend, Murley said.

Some sea turtles, which should have left the area for the 90-degree waters of the Gulf of Mexico long ago, have lingered too long, and were discovered only when they washed up onshore. Turtles are coldblooded, and while that means they require less food to survive than warmblooded animals, it also means their metabolism slows as water temperature cools. Land turtles burrow into mud to hibernate during cold months, but sea turtles must head for warmer waters.

At least one theory posits that warm offshore summer waters along the Outer Cape form a warm water "bridge" to the waters of Cape Cod Bay. With the onset of cold fall weather that link disappears, leaving turtles that remain in the bay disoriented about how to get back to the Atlantic and head south.

Murley pointed to one dead Kemp's ridley whose shell was heavily fouled with algae and other growth, indicating that it had been inactive for some time and may have tried to bury itself on the bottom to ride out cold water temperatures.

But ultimately a cold snap, with water dipping below 50 degrees, makes the turtles inactive; they float ashore with the prevailing winds.

Many had body temperatures as low as 30 and 40 degrees when found.

Green Sea Turtles

Can grow to 3 feet in length and weigh 350 pounds

Local population stretches from Texas to Massachusetts

Considered an endangered species worldwide

Adults eat sea grasses and algae

Kemp's Ridley sea turtles

Smallest sea turtle in world, averaging around 100 pounds and 2 feet in length

Eat mostly swimming crabs, but also jellyfish and mollusks

Range from Gulf of Mexico to New England

Endangered species in United States and worldwide

Source: NOAA

Source: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091208/NEWS/912080316/-1/NEWSMAP

Record number of turtles strand on beaches

WELLFLEET --120709-- Mass. Audubon's Michelle Stantinal takes the measurements of this green turtle that was found cold stunned on a local beach. A record number of cold stunned turtles have been rescued off the beaches over the past couple of days.

By Doug Fraser

STAFF WRITER

December 07, 2009 9:28 AM

WELLFLEET - As a cold set in overnight, six more endangered sea turtles were rescued off Cape Cod Bay beaches early today bringing the total from Sunday to 25 - one of the largest, single-day totals ever, according to Massachusetts Audubon Society Wellfleet sanctuary director Robert Prescott.

Many of the 19 turtles will be transported to Boston this morning to join around 90 already being rehabilitated at the New England Aquarium.

These turtles, which include the endangered Kemps Ridley and green sea turtles, should already be headed back to warmer southern waters on their annual migration route, but they sometimes get caught by a change in the water and air temperature as the fall heads into winter.

Their metabolisms shut down and winds push them up onto beaches where wind chill and dehydration can prove fatal.

Audubon staff and volunteers patrol beaches regularly when winds blow onshore and water temperatures drop below 50 degrees.

Source: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091207/NEWS11/912079984/-1/news

Middle school students find carcass of endangered sea turtle on Quincy beach

By Tony Catinella

The Patriot Ledger

Quincy- When Meghan Caggiano and Emily Van Tassel walk the sea wall at Perry Beach, they usually look down at the water and see no wildlife.

That changed Nov. 18.

The two Broad Meadows Middle School seventh-graders at found the carcass of a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle, the world’s most endangered sea turtle.

Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle facts

The Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle was placed on the endangered species list in 1970. It is now the most endangered sea turtle in the world. Over the centuries, people have harvested the eggs and killed the turtles for their meat and leather-like skin. More recent threats include suffocation in shrimpers’ large nets and ingesting floating trash that the turtles mistake for food. There are 20,000 adult Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles left. Average size: 27-32 inches (smallest sea turtle in the world). Average weight: 75-100 pounds. Diet: Crabs, shrimp, snails, clams, jellyfish, sea stars and fish. Description: Dark gray to gray-green carapace (upper shell), cream to tan plasteron (lower shell), streamlined shells, and appendages shaped like flippers. The turtle’s dark, spotted head and flippers contrast sharply with its pale body. Habitat: They prefer open ocean and Gulf waters; the females only come ashore to lay eggs in sand. Sources: New England Aquarium; Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; “Research and Management Techniques for the Conservation of Sea Turtles”

Full of excitement, they immediately called their science teacher, Debbie Baird, at school to describe their discovery and ask if they could bring it to class.

Another Kemp’s Ridley had been found in dead in Hull on Nov. 1.

“This is very unusual,” said New England Aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse. “In all my time, I have never seen a Kemp’s Ridley turtle washed up on the South Shore.”

While the turtle is uncommon on the South Shore, it is a familiar sight on Cape Cod.

LaCasse said 28 cold-stunned Kemp’s Ridleys have been found from Dennis to Truro in the last week, 20 of them this weekend after the rainstorm.

The Kemp’s Ridleys, which hatch off the coast of Mexico, are the smallest and most endangered sea turtles in the world.

Rescuing a turtle

Move the turtle above the high-tide line. Cover the turtle with seaweed and limit exposure to the wind. Call animal rescue personnel or contact the New England Aquarium and leave an exact location as well as a description of landmarks. A rescue crew will come as soon as possible. Source: New England Aquarium

Baby Kemp’s Ridley turtles, weighing 2 to 8 pounds, migrate as far as New England from Mexico, the Caribbean and the Carolinas to feed on crabs. In late August they swim back south to return to warmer waters.

When younger turtles encounter a strong current, they can have trouble swimming through it. As a result, they can wind up stuck in cold water and dying of hypothermia.

Last weekend, Massachusetts Audubon Society volunteers and personnel walked beaches from Eastham to Dennis and found five cold-stunned Kemp’s Ridleys and one green sea turtle.

The turtles were taken to the aquarium. Once healthy, they will be released into the wild.

Aquarium officials say the strandings are a natural occurrence as water temperatures drop.

The strandings usually start in early November. They have been delayed this year by the unusually warm temperatures.

Material from The Associated Press was used in this story.

Source: http://www.patriotledger.com/news/x29007627/Middle-school-students-find-carcass-of-endangered-sea-turtle-on-Quincy-beach

Endangered turtles wash ashore on Cape

By CAPE COD TIMES

November 30, 2009 2:00 AM

SOUTH WELLFLEET — Beach patrols Saturday night turned up another half-dozen turtles, washed up on the sand, immobilized by the cold water and wind.

With the wind still blowing onshore at 30 mph and water temperature in Cape Cod Bay finally dipping below 50 degrees, Massachusetts Audubon Society volunteers and staff walked bay beaches from Eastham to Dennis and found five "cold-stunned" Kemp's ridley turtles and one green sea turtle.

Turtles become "cold-stunned" when the water temperatures drop, causing their body metabolism to slow to the point where they can no longer swim. They then come to the surface so that they can breathe and float to shore. While most of the sea turtles that visit the Cape in warmer months have already headed south, some stragglers inevitably stay behind, continuing to feed while waters remain warm.

Kemp's ridleys are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act. They can grow to where the shell measures two feet in length and they weigh 75 to 100 pounds. The green sea turtle is also listed as an endangered species and can attain four feet in shell length and weigh nearly 900 pounds.

Including the reptiles found Saturday night, a total of 29 turtles have been discovered on beaches from Sandwich to Provincetown since October.

Source: http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091130/NEWS/911300311/-1/NEWS

Rescuers Racing To Save Stranded Sea Turtles

Endangered Kemp's Ridley Turtles Blown Ashore Saturday

BOSTON -- Colder weather and gusty winds pushed a surge of sea turtles onto Cape Cod beaches this weekend, sending rescuers scrambling to find the stranded reptiles before temperatures dip dangerously low overnight.

Dozens of endangered sea turtles usually begin turning up on the Massachusetts coast at the beginning of November, stunned by cold water in the Atlantic Ocean, but warmer-than-average temperatures this year kept the turtles at bay for a few extra weeks, New England Aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse said. LaCasse said the colder weather and blustery northwest winds this weekend caused the turtles to begin washing ashore along beaches from Dennis to Truro.

Since the start of the Thanksgiving holiday, 10 turtles have been rescued on the Cape by volunteers from the Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary at Wellfleet Bay, including five turtles that were carried ashore by the high tide on Saturday morning. Exposed on the beach, the turtles are in danger not only of hypothermia and pneumonia, but also shell fractures, infections and attacks from roving raccoons, sea gulls and dogs. In all, 13 turtles have been rescued this year, but LaCasse expects several more to turn up in the coming days.

The rescued turtles face a long road to recovery, with rehabilitation periods ranging from months to more than a year. Once the turtles are healthy again, they will be released back into the wild.

Over the past 15 years, the New England Aquarium has successfully treated and released more than 500 young Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles. Kemp’s Ridley turtles are the most endangered species of sea turtle in the world, according to LaCasse.

Source: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/21748005/detail.html

Annual search for Kemp's ridley turtles

http://picasaweb.google.com/wellfleetbay/SeaTurtleRelease#


On this day in 2001, about a hundred naturalists and volunteers combed the beaches of Cape Cod Bay. They are looking for summer visitors who have overstayed their welcome -- dozens of stranded sea turtles.

The turtles, called Kemp's ridleys, are the world's rarest and most endangered sea turtles. Weighing 5 to 10 pounds, usually 2 to 3 years old and about the size of a big green dinner plate, they spend summers feeding on blue mussels and crabs in the warm bay. But in fall, when they should be swimming south, many fail to get out of the bay.

Robert Prescott, director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society's Wellfleet Wildlife Sanctuary, explained: ''When the fall weather turns cold and the water temperature dips below 50 degrees for a sustained period of time, they become so sluggish they can't leave the bay for warmer water. A strong northerly wind pushes them ashore.''

At that point, the wildlife sanctuary mobilizes its annual rescue effort. In 1999, the busiest year for strandings, the volunteers found 220 Kemp's ridleys, a big part of the worldwide population. So far this year, they have found 29. (Scientists do not know the total number but have counted 4,000 nests on beaches at Rancho Nuevo, on the Gulf of Mexico, meaning that there are at least 4,000 females.)

Because sea turtles can die from the cold, naturalists say, the sooner they find the turtles, the better the chance of their survival. Once recovered, they ride -- often in the passenger seat of a naturalist's pickup truck -- to the sanctuary in Wellfleet. A saline solution is applied to their eyes; protective jelly is rubbed on the carapace to retain body heat; some are given fluid intravenously.

Within 12 hours, they are taken to the New England Aquarium in Boston. After an average stay of four months, they complete their recovery at centers like Sea World in Florida, and are usually released in Florida or North Carolina. After that, Mr. Prescott said, the temptations of Cape Cod Bay are no longer a problem for the Kemp's ridleys: they come here only once in their lives. At age 15 to 20, the females return to Mexico to lay their eggs. (NY Times, Nov. 27, 2001)


Source: http://www.capecodtoday.com/blogs/index.php/2009/11/27/2001-filming-starts-on-the-retreat-in-fa?blog=161

Help Prevent the Deaths of Thousands of Sea Turtles

Trawl fisheries indiscriminately catch everything in their path, including sea turtles! Untargeted or discarded catch from commercial fisheries, also known as bycatch, is an enormous problem throughout the world.

Take action >>

The National Marine Fisheries Service recognized this problem in 2007 and issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. Although this was a first step to get in the water requirements to protect turtles from trawl nets, more than two years later a satisfactory rule has yet to be proposed!

Please ask Dr. Lubchenco, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to protect sea turtles in all trawl fisheries! >>

Sea turtles have been swimming in the world's oceans for more than 100 million years. While they have been able to survive many challenges over the years, sea turtles are not equipped to withstand the threat humans pose.

Thank you for taking action today!