Mass Audubon, the region’s largest nature-based conservation organization, issued a press release this week, reminding New Englanders that this time of year is cold-stunned season for sea turtles, and asking the public to make sure to report sightings of any stranded turtles.
Stranding season is weather-dependent, but typically begins post-Halloween, with increased incidents starting mid-November.
Around this time of year is when sea turtles begin their return journey South to warmer waters, as the northern air and water temperature drop.
When exposed to rapidly cooling water, the cold-blooded turtles can become hypothermic and increasingly lethargic, and run the risk of being carried to shore, where they can get stranded.
Mass Audubon says that Kemp’s ridley, loggerhead, and green turtles can often survive once cold-stunned, but only if they receive help as quickly as possible.
While sea turtle strandings are less common on the Vineyard than on the Cape, where they can easily get caught in Cape Cod’s hook shape, the regional conservation organization responded to more than 900 strandings last year, and reminds all coastal New Englanders what to do if they come actress a stranded sea turtle this winter:
- Do not put it back in the water.
- Carefully move the turtle above the high tide line, making sure never to grab or hold it by the head or flippers.
- Cover it completely with dry seaweed or wrack.
- Mark it with an obvious piece of debris (buoys, driftwood, branches, etc.)
- Contact a local stranding network partner, NOAA’s stranding hotline at 866-755-6622, or the Wellfleet Bay hotline at 508-349-2615, ext. 2.
