December 3, 2012 — Each year when autumn rolls around, sea turtles tend to strand along the Northeast coast as a result of “cold stunning.” It has been an extraordinarily busy sea turtle stranding season, with a running total of 150 reported strandings so far from Massachusetts to New York.
NOAA Fisheries’ stranding network partner, the New England Aquarium, has been working hard to treat 140 Kemp’s ridley, loggerhead and green sea turtles that have been brought into their facility. According to aquarium staff, they have treated an unusually high number of loggerhead sea turtles this year. Responders from Massachusetts Audubon at Wellfleet Bay engaged in a heroic effort to collect all of the Massachusetts turtles and transport live animals up to the Aquarium. NOAA Fisheries has been helping by coordinating transports of turtles to other facilities. Other partners that have been assisting the Aquarium by agreeing to house and care for some of the animals include the National Marine Life Center in Buzzards Bay, Mass., the University of New England Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center in Biddeford, Maine, the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Md., the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center in Virginia Beach, Va. and the Georgia Sea Turtle Center in Jekyll Island, Ga. In New York, the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation is caring for 11 animals that have stranded on Long Island. The Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center is currently caring for one kemp’s ridley sea turtle.
Sea turtles are commonly found in waters off the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S. during the summer and early fall. They typically begin to migrate south by late October because they are cold-blooded and depend on external sources of heat to determine their body temperature. In cold water, they do not have the ability to warm themselves, and must instead migrate to warmer waters.
However, some turtles may be foraging in shallow bays and inlets and don’t always migrate south prior to the drop in water temperatures. These animals may be subject to “cold stunning” because the temperatures in these areas can drop quite rapidly and unexpectedly. The term “cold stunning” refers to the hypothermic reaction that occurs when sea turtles are exposed to prolonged cold water temperatures. Initial symptoms include a decreased heart rate, decreased circulation, and lethargy, followed by shock, pneumonia and possibly death.
In a typical year between 50 and 200 sea turtles are expected to cold stun in Massachusetts from late October through December. In addition to Massachusetts, New York, specifically Long Island beaches, also see a lower number of cold stunned turtles each winter.
Read the full story on the NOAA website