Rescued turtles return to sea
Published: August 25, 2006
Set down on the sand a stone’s throw from the ocean, the turtles seemed to pause to sniff the salty air of freedom. Then the smallest one lurched toward the water, as a cheer went up from hundreds of jubilant onlookers.
The sea turtles released from captivity yesterday on Cape Cod had come a long way since they last felt the chilly kiss of the Atlantic. Rescued from Cape beaches late last fall after they failed to migrate south, most were near death from exposure to frigid waters. But yesterday, after nearly a year of recovery, 14 of the endangered creatures once again swam free, in the largest simultaneous release of rescued turtles ever seen in the Northeast.
“This is the culmination, the goal,” said Bob Prescott , who coordinates the rescue of stranded turtles for the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Set free yesterday at Dowses Beach on the south side of the Cape were 13 Kemp’s ridley turtles, the most critically endangered sea turtles in the world, and one loggerhead turtle, also endangered. The turtles, mostly juveniles, ranged in weight from roughly 10 to 25 pounds.
The number of turtles rehabilitated and released locally is growing as the New England Aquarium, the leader in their treatment, steps up collaboration with two smaller partners, the National Marine Life Center in Bourne and the Woods Hole Science Aquarium, officials said. In the past, after critically ill turtles were nursed back to health at the aquarium in Boston, space constraints forced some to be transferred to other aquariums around the country. Now, more recovering turtles are sent to nearby facilities on the Cape, where they live until the waters are warm enough for their release.
The new arrangement is better for the turtles, which sometimes suffered from the stress of being moved around the country, said Prescott, director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.
It also made for a thrilling spectacle yesterday on the Cape, where beachgoers were treated to an impromptu parade of the kicking, flapping turtles, which were carried in a circle by aquarium workers so the crowd could see them. Finally, the turtles were placed in a row on the sand and let go. Within 5 minutes, all crawled into the water and swam away. Marine scientists hope they will migrate to warmer waters before the local ocean temperatures turn deadly.
The rescue of stranded sea turtles unfolds each fall on windswept Cape Cod beaches, where more than 100 volunteers comb the sands on windy days, searching for motionless turtles that wash ashore with the tide. If they are not found quickly, many will die, eaten by gulls or coyotes or succumbing to exposure.
Drawn north in the summer to feed on the region’s rich supply of crabs, the turtles that are stranded are often inexperienced juveniles trapped by the long arm of Cape Cod when they try to head south in the fall, an aquarium spokesman said. Hundreds have been saved by rescue efforts.
Audubon Society volunteer Bill Allan found one of the turtles that was released yesterday during a beach walk last November. The turtle, later named Hiller, was buried in the sand and was mistaken for a rock by one volunteer before Allan investigated further.
“It’s unbelievable when you pick the turtle up — it seems dead, and it looks really terrible,” he said.
Rushed to the aquarium, the turtles are gradually warmed back to a healthy temperature, and then subjected to X-rays, blood tests, and ultrasound exams to determine their condition. Hand-fed with clams to build up their strength, most of the turtles released yesterday have tripled in weight since their rescue, said officials.
“The best part is that we know for sure that they would have died if they had remained” on the beach, said Charles Innis , an associate veterinarian at the New England Aquarium.
The turtles vanished into the ocean yesterday, but researchers hope to continue to track their progress for a year, using data from small satellite tags that were glued to several of the turtles’ shells before their release.
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