Banana boxes? Check. Air support? Check. Volunteers? Check. After several years’ experience, conservation groups on Cape Cod know exactly what they need to rescue sea turtles that wash up on their shores every winter. But how do these turtles end up stranded in Massachusetts, USA, a place that seems so far from their usual tropical waters?
Sea turtles come and feed in Cape Cod bay during the warm summer months. Come the colder months, the turtles migrate back to warmer waters in the South. However, due to the geography of the Cape, some turtles cannot navigate their way out of the bay and get trapped. As the water cools these cold-blooded animals suffer from hypothermia, loose their ability to move, and wash up on the shores of the Cape.
Fortunately volunteers patrol the beaches to help the turtles. The cold-stunned turtles are taken to an animal care centre, such as the New England Aquarium, where they receive medical treatment. The turtles’ body temperatures are gradually raised every day and their progress is carefully monitored. Full recovery can take anywhere between a few days and several months, after which the turtles are placed in specially prepared banana boxes and are either flown or driven back South and released in warmer waters.
The cold-stunned turtles are cared for at rescue centres
(photo courtesy of Liz Maloney)
This year, for the first time since the start of the rescue activities, volunteers are recovering turtles from the beach as late as January. This may be due to rising temperatures, which causes the turtles to migrate south later in the season. Already over 500 cold-stunned turtles were reported this season, amongst which are Kemp’s ridley, loggerhead, and green turtles. In 2014 a record of 1200 turtles were recovered from the beaches around the Cape. Thanks to the efforts of the volunteers and rescue centres, the majority of these turtles made it back home safely.
Getting ready for the trip home!
(photo courtesy of Liz Maloney)
turtles and tides 