Holiday travel comes with delays, heavy traffic, overbooked flights and other complications — but for 12 cold-stunned sea turtles, the timing was just right to fly south after an upgrade from standby status.
The Kemp’s ridley sea turtles hitched a ride Dec. 22 aboard a NOAA Twin Otter aircraft relocating from Falmouth, Massachusetts, after an endangered-species survey mission. Two Florida aquariums stood ready to rehabilitate the chilled reptiles that had been residing at an aquarium in Boston.
Cold stunning is a form of hypothermia that affects sea turtles that don’t move to warmer waters when the temperature drops. These cold-blooded animals rely on heat from their environment to maintain their body temperatures. As temperatures drop, the turtles become debilitated and stop eating, eventually washing up on shore. They can die if they aren’t rescued quickly.
The aircraft was already headed back to NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center in Lakeland, Florida, so a stop to drop off the turtles in Clearwater, Florida was convenient. NOAA Fisheries worked with stranding partners at the New England Aquarium to place the turtles with Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are an endangered species. They weigh as much as 100 pounds, and can reach a length of 24 inches and an age of 30 years or more. While adults primarily live in the Gulf of America, juveniles migrate into the Atlantic and occupy the coastal waters as far north as Nova Scotia. Each turtle traveled aboard the NOAA aircraft in its very own holiday package.
About 750 sea turtles are cold-stunned in Massachusetts every year between November and January. This large number can quickly overwhelm local rehabilitation facilities, so some turtles are transported to other facilities to continue their care. Once these turtles are cleared to go back into the wild, they’ll be released into the Gulf of America.
If you see a sea turtle or marine mammal in distress, report it to your nearest stranding network.