Now that the cold-stun stranding season is securely behind us, we can provide a bit of a summary. Seventy-seven sea turtles were brought to the Aquarium between October and December, 2008. We thank the staff and volunteers of Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Sanctuary for their hard work in recovering and transporting all of these turtles.

Of the 34 turtles that were alive when they were brought to Aquarium, most of them survived. Many of the turtles suffered from severe hypothermia, pneumonia and other problems. Many of the survivors were very sick initially, as you have seen from past posts. Some turtles were unconscious and needed to be placed on a ventilator. In all, the survivors include twelve Kemp's ridley turtles, nine loggerhead turtles, two green turtles, and one hybrid turtle. Since these are all endangered species, we consider every successful recovery to be important.


Eight of these turtles are still here at the Aquarium and can be seen by the public in our Sea Turtle Recovery Room [The space that housed the Sea Turtle Recovery Room is now The Trust Family Foundation Shark and Ray Touch Tank. Rescued sea turtles are now cared for at the new, much larger Animal Care Clinic in Quincy.] and our Aquarium Medical Center. Other turtles are rehabilitating at the National Marine Life Center, Buzzard's Bay, Massachusetts; the Marine Animal Rescue Center at University of New England, Biddeford, Maine; and the Riverhead Foundation, Long Island, New York. We thank everyone that has helped these turtles. Keep an eye on the blog later this summer for the announcement of the big day when the turtles will be released back to the wild!
(Here's a video of a release parade)

-Dr. Innis