Endangered frozen creatures wash up on shore. See their return to the sea in Florida
As freezing temperatures battered the Atlantic coast in December, thousands of ocean creatures fought to stay warm.
Among them were hundreds of Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, a critically endangered species.
For a few, the cold was too great and their bodies shut down, leaving them washed up on the shore of New England in dire need of rescue, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium said in a Feb. 15 release.
Dozens of the turtles were taken to the New England Aquarium in Boston, the Florida aquarium said, before they were transferred down south for medical care and treatment.
In total, 52 turtles arrived in Tampa and were distributed to Florida aquariums and facilities, 16 of which ended up in Clearwater.
The turtles were experiencing cold-stunning, a phenomenon that occurs when the water temperature drops too low and causes the turtle’s bodies to shut down, the aquarium said.
“Because sea turtles are cold blooded reptiles, they rely on their environment to regulate their body temperatures. When water temperatures drop, their body temperature decreases causing hypothermia and severe debilitation,” the aquarium said.
The aquarium said it monitored the turtles before treating about 75% of them for pneumonia.
Rehabilitating the Kemp’s ridley sea turtles is particularly important due to their critically endangered status.
The species used to be abundant throughout the Gulf of Mexico and nested in Rancho Nuevo, Mexico, in the tens of thousands, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Between the 1940’s and 1980’s their species took dramatic hits, NOAA said, and by 1985 there were only 250 females producing eggs.
The species has slowly rebounded in the decades since, but fishing and habitat destruction continues to threaten the sea turtles, NOAA said.
Two months after the 16 Kemp’s ridley sea turtles arrived in Clearwater, some were ready to be back in the open ocean.
“We are excited to share that 11 of our Kemp’s ridley patients are fully recovered and have been cleared for release by us, as well as Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). All 11 were ready to go back home to the east coast of Florida into a warmer part of the Atlantic Ocean,” Shelly Marquardt, a Clearwater Marine Aquarium veterinarian, said in the release.
A group of aquarium staff crossed the state, bringing the turtles to the Atlantic coast in the area of Cape Canaveral on Feb. 15.
They walked into the shallow water with turtles in hand, then released them into the surf. The aquarium shared a video of the release on Facebook.
The water off the east coast of Florida is much warmer for the turtles, the aquarium said, allowing them to readjust to their habitat before traveling north as the sea warms.
“The remaining turtles still require additional TLC and will remain in our sea turtle hospital until they fully recover. We are happy to be able to take in sea turtle patients from other parts of the country who need our help!” the aquarium said.
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium is about 25 miles west of Tampa.
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