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Two dozen Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles are being rehabilitated Florida after the cold water runs out Cape Cod, MassachusettsLeaving him battling frostbite, pneumonia and bruises.
Thanks to the nonprofit organization Lighthawk, 24 endangered sea turtles arrived at the Loggerhead MarineLife Center in Juno Beach, Florida on December 9. Last year, the center welcomed another group of cold-shocked tortoises, who were released into atlantic Months later.
They are expected to remain in the facility until the spring, when they will be released. atlantic ocean to return to New England, said Heather Baron, Loggerhead’s chief science officer and veterinarian.
He said the turtles are suffering from a disease called cold stunning, which requires treatment with antibiotics, fluids and nebulization.
Cold stunning occurs in extremely cold temperatures and causes cold-blooded sea turtles to become lethargic and lose mobility, and Kemp’s ridley, loggerhead, and green sea turtles are commonly affected.
According to the New England Aquarium fact sheet, the turtles migrate north in the summer and many turtles get stuck on Cape Cod’s tilted peninsula while moving south. As ocean temperatures drop, turtles become lethargic, emaciated, and hypothermic. They begin to wash up on shore, where volunteers rescue them and take them to a sea turtle hospital.
Many of the turtles were sent to Florida to relieve overcrowding at the New England Aquarium, said Pam Bechtold Snyder, director of marketing and communications for the Boston facility. Most of those turtles were trapped during a strong westerly wind on Nov. 28 and went through the triage process at the Boston facility, Snyder said.
They were sent to Florida to make room for more turtles arriving from Cape Cod, he said. So far, they have treated 472 hypothermic turtles during the annual cold-stunning event that began on November 7.
The hospital staff works with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service to transfer the turtles to various sea turtle hospitals, including Loggerhead, Snyder said.
“These individuals were very seriously ill when they arrived and were receiving extensive treatment,” Barron said of the turtles sent to Juno Beach. “They’re being nebulized where they actually breathe in the medicine. It helps their lungs do their job better.”
When turtles arrive at Loggerhead in groups, the staff names them based on a theme, Barron said.
“And in this case, it’s Greek mythology,” Barron said. “So we have Pandora and Gaia and Persephone and Helios and all those people.”
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Frisaro reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.