Turtle Journal

This afternoon a badly decomposed juvenile Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle was recovered from Truro’s Pamet marsh.

The tally for this year’s sea turtle strandings now stands at 46: 40 ridleys and 6 loggerheads.  By location: 1 stranded at Sandwich, 6 at Dennis, 19 at Brewster, 2 at Orleans, 8 at Eastham, 6 at Wellfleet, and 4 at Truro.  While beaches were scoured for sea turtles during the season, the more inaccessible marshes are still likely to turn up a few more remains throughout the winter and early spring.  While respectable, this season’s numbers fall far short of last year’s record of hundreds of sea turtles stranded on Cape Cod beaches.  Then again, the weather this season fell far short of last year’s temperatures, too.

Ice Floes Grip South Wellfleet Marsh

As winter ice locks down the Wellfleet marshes a full month earlier than last year’s freeze, one cannot help but marvel at the amazing survival skills of our local diamondback terrapins who live at the northernmost edge of the species’ habitat.  Unrelenting northwest gales and frigid temperatures have transformed the Land of Ooze into an Arctic landscape.

Tiny Terrapin Hatchlings Emerged in Late Fall

Hard to believe . . . just two months ago tiny 6-gram hatchlings were emerging from upland nest sites . . .

. . . and scurrying for the protective nursery habitat of these same salt marsh creeks.

How they manage to endure these harsh winter conditions while their cousins are still basking in Florida sunshine challenges researchers and poets alike.  Three hundred eighty years ago, their ancestors watched stoically as long boats from the Mayflower with our ancestors aboard investigated Wellfleet Bay for the first time.  So, I guess they may be even better at this than we are; they’ve had a lot more practice.  Still, when you look at the very spot where these little critters disappeared into the “safety” of the marsh in October, you’ve got to admire their plucky survival skills.

Bob Prescott Retrieves Loggerhead Sea Turtle from Frigid Surf

Night patrol hit the beaches of Eastham, Wellfleet and Truro about 8 p.m., a little after high tide.  Temperature hovered around 30 with a snappy west-northwest breeze.  Bob Prescott, the Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary director, spotted “a rock where there shouldn’t have been one” off the Eastham beach near Cole Road.  He plunged into the frigid surf and retrieved Barnacle Bill, a nearly 68-pound loggerhead being tossed ashore in the rising tide.

Barnacle Removed from Loggerhead Sea Turtle

As the name implies, his carapace was encrusted from head to tail with barnacles, some of which wrapped around and under his top shell.  Whole communities of critters had taken residence on this nearly two-foot square mobile reef.  With a sharp knife, barnacles were removed.

Bob Prescotts Measures Loggerhead Sea Turtle

His carapace was cleaned and sterilized, and his flippers were jellied to prevent dehydration, giving Bill that moist and glossy look so sought after in loggerhead pinups.

Loggerhead Active Despite 33.7º F Internal Body Temp

Despite an internal body temperature of only 33.7°F, Bill seems remarkably active and responsive.  He’s resting the night in a dark 50-degree recovery room, waiting for tomorrow’s trip to the New England Aquarium and the beginning of his voyage back home to the tropics.

Slush Forms along Eastham Shoreline

It was just plain freezing this morning.  Sub-zero wind chills.  Blustery west-northwest gusts at 20+ knots.  Slushy ice forming along the shore.  Brrrr!  Not a particularly hospitable venue for tropical sea turtles.

Tiny 33.3 cm Loggerhead Sea Turtle Rescued

Nevertheless, the tiniest loggerhead sea turtle seen in these parts for several seasons was rescued by a Massachusetts Audubon volunteer from Bound Brook beach in north Wellfleet.  At 33.3 centimeters long, she’s smaller than some of the ridleys.  Her 13-pound mass had been chilled to 35.2°F by bay conditions.  Still, she was responsive and active and breathing fairly well.

30-Pound Loggerhead Rescued at Boat Meadow in Eastham

Another, more normal size loggerhead was discovered by a volunteer at Boat Meadow beach in Eastham.  This turtle measured 44.1 centimeters and weighed nearly 30 pounds, yet her internal body temperature had dropped to a mere 32.3 degrees.  Both loggerheads are being prepared for transport to the New England Aquarium in Boston.  Two dead ridleys were found in Dennis and Brewster.  Totals now stand at 36 cold-stunned sea turtles, four of which were loggerheads and the rest were Kemp’s ridleys.