{"id":1829,"date":"2008-12-07T16:37:55","date_gmt":"2008-12-07T20:37:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=1829"},"modified":"2008-12-07T17:11:51","modified_gmt":"2008-12-07T21:11:51","slug":"loggerhead-days-of-december","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=1829","title":{"rendered":"Loggerhead Days of December"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rescue >>><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 >> Triage >>><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 >> Treatment >>><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0>> Rehab >>><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0>> Release<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Don Lewis Examines Lively Juvenile Loggerhead<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When we last reported on sea turtle rescues in the Great White North, Turtle World Turned Upside Down<\/a>, waves flash froze on frigid beaches and ocean water had transformed to icy slush within the intertidal zone.\u00c2\u00a0 No sea turtle could survive those conditions when tossed ashore by coastal storms.\u00c2\u00a0 In the interim, temperatures moderated, ice and slush melted, and live turtles once again have been recovered from Cape Cod beaches.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

RESCUE<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

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Click Here to View Video in High Quality<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Sea Turtle Patrol of Truro Beaches at Sunset<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Any\u00c2\u00a0search for cold-stunned sea turtles yields special moments as your mind constantly molds and shapes objects into patterns that may, or may not, represent a stranded animal.\u00c2\u00a0 But no beach walk is as dramatic as a sunset or dawn patrol.\u00c2\u00a0 When twice daily tides align so that the first high comes at sunrise, and the second at sunset, the experience\u00c2\u00a0transcends magical.\u00c2\u00a0 In Disneyesque fashion,\u00c2\u00a0clumps of distant seaweed morph into turtles,\u00c2\u00a0then decompose back into seagrass as you approach.\u00c2\u00a0 A gust of wind breathes life into debris that rises like a distressed seal, then deflates to become an abandoned buoy once again.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a smart\u00c2\u00a0game your brain plays\u00c2\u00a0to keep\u00c2\u00a0adrenaline levels high to ensure peak attention and focus.\u00c2\u00a0 Otherwise, your\u00c2\u00a0thoughts would drift and your senses would become\u00c2\u00a0overwhelmed by pounding surf, howling winds, and miles and miles and miles\u00c2\u00a0of mind-numbing sameness.<\/p>\n

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Live, Cold-Stunned Kemp’s Ridley among Wrackline Debris<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

These mental\u00c2\u00a0gymnastics keep senses sharp and ready for\u00c2\u00a0immediate action\u00c2\u00a0when that clump of seaweed, shaped like a turtle, really is a stranded sea turtle in desperate need of rescue.\u00c2\u00a0 Such was the case of this juvenile Kemp’s ridley overturned by the surf and deposited among piles of wrackline debris.<\/p>\n

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Juvenile Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta caretta)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In Cape Cod, sea turtle strandings are driven by physics as much as biology.\u00c2\u00a0 Obviously, ectothermic biology leads to cold-stunned stupor as these tropical and semi-tropical animals are beset by plunging water temperatures in the bay each fall.\u00c2\u00a0 But once cold-stunning begins, biology surrenders to physics.\u00c2\u00a0 Effects of the cold are felt earlier by less massive sea turtles.\u00c2\u00a0 Smaller Kemp’s ridley strand earliest in the fall with larger and larger turtles coming ashore as the season progresses.\u00c2\u00a0 Wind and sea drive these stunned\u00c2\u00a0turtles ashore,\u00c2\u00a0with less massive turtles easier to move than heavier animals.\u00c2\u00a0 The result:\u00c2\u00a0 ridleys first and loggerheads last.<\/p>\n

We warm-blooded rescuers thank the gods of biology and physics for this blessing.\u00c2\u00a0 We cut our teeth early in the season lugging five to ten pound ridleys along the beach,\u00c2\u00a0building muscles and endurance\u00c2\u00a0to be prepared for the 50, 75 and 100 pound loggerheads to come.\u00c2\u00a0 About the time that the calendar flips from November to December, loggerheads begin to dominate the rescue scene … and our backs strain accordingly.<\/p>\n

TRIAGE<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

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Click Here to View Video in High Quality<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Loggerhead & Ridley Turtles in Triage<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

After patrolling beaches, rescuers drop off cold-stunned\u00c2\u00a0sea turtles at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 In the triage center set up in the sanctuary’s wet lab, senior experts examine, evaluate and stabilize animals before transport to the New England Aquarium<\/a> in Boston for medical treatment.\u00c2\u00a0 By this time in the stranding season, more massive turtles have the better chance\u00c2\u00a0of survival, giving the edge to larger loggerheads over\u00c2\u00a0smaller ridleys.<\/p>\n

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Loggerhead Survived Earlier Shark Attack<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This loggerhead with a large section of its left rear quadrant missing was a survivor of a probable shark attack.\u00c2\u00a0 The wound and the shell had healed well.\u00c2\u00a0 After\u00c2\u00a0beating 999-to-1 odds to reach juvenile stage, after surviving a shark attack in which a large\u00c2\u00a0chunk of its rear quadrant was lost, it seems a tragic shame that this turtle would succumb to hypothermia because of the accident of glacial geology that formed the giant seine net called Cape Cod.<\/p>\n

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Shark Attacked Loggerhead from 2000 Stranding Season<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Eight years ago\u00c2\u00a0almost to the day, on 3 December 2000, a juvenile loggerhead was\u00c2\u00a0found on a Brewster beach.\u00c2\u00a0 It, too, had survived a severe shark attack that had taken a huge piece of its right rear\u00c2\u00a0 quadrant, including its right rear flipper.<\/p>\n

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Healed Shark Wound on Juvenile Loggerhead<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The wound had healed so well and so long ago that a marine community had taken residence.\u00c2\u00a0 You can make out the small blue mussels nestled along the edge of the chomped shell.\u00c2\u00a0 Again, this loggerhead had survived a viscious shark attack only to succumb to\u00c2\u00a0cold-stunning in Cape Cod Bay.\u00c2\u00a0 The story of this loggerhead can be found at Shark Attack!<\/a><\/p>\n

Triage to Treatment<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

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Click Here to View Video in High Quality<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Kemp’s Ridleys and Loggerhead Go from Triage to Treatment<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Once live turtles have been evaluated and prepared, volunteers drive them to the New\u00c2\u00a0England Aquarium<\/a> in Boston for intensive medical treatment and to begin their rehabilitation.\u00c2\u00a0 Kemp’s\u00c2\u00a0ridleys are small enough to fit in banana boxes donated by the local Stop & Shop in Orleans.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Inside these sturdy boxes, soften by donated fluffy towels, turtles can be contained safely during transport.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Loggerheads are “a whole ‘nother” story.\u00c2\u00a0 They don’t really fit in banana boxes and even if they did, loggerheads are so rambunctious they\u00c2\u00a0might break through the sides.\u00c2\u00a0 Many a night we would leave the sanctuary with a “comatose” loggerhead resting comfortably in triage drydock, only to find the room re-arranged in the morning by these powerful pelagic tanks.\u00c2\u00a0 Several drivers have been forced to pull over during the long ride to Boston, because a loggerhead had decided to drive the rest of the way itself.\u00c2\u00a0 When\u00c2\u00a0loggerheads get well enough for rehabilitation, they can never be kept in the same pool with another turtle of any species.\u00c2\u00a0 Too aggressive.\u00c2\u00a0 Each loggerhead has its own recovery pool … which brings us to the last, long\u00c2\u00a0leg of sea turtle rescues: rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

Rehab<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

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Click Here to View Video in High Quality<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

91-Pound Loggerhead in Rehab (2002)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

(Story of This Rescue at <\/em>The Big One That Didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Get Away<\/a>)<\/strong><\/p>\n

After adventurous rescues from frigid Cape Cod beaches (RESCUE<\/em><\/strong>), after rigorous assessments and stabilization in triage at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary (TRIAGE<\/em><\/strong>), after emergency medical treatment\u00c2\u00a0at the New England Aquarium in Boston (TREATMENT<\/em><\/strong>), the real heavy lifting begins (REHAB<\/em><\/strong>).\u00c2\u00a0 For months, and on rare occasions even for years, these rescued turtles go through intensive rehabilitation.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Hospital-clean pools, daily medication, frequent\u00c2\u00a0examinations and\u00c2\u00a0x-rays, enrichment activities, and feeding, feeding, feeding, followed by cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.\u00c2\u00a0 Medical care staff,\u00c2\u00a0sea water-equipped facilities, medical supplies,\u00c2\u00a0constant supervision, volunteers, and food, food, food.<\/p>\n

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Media Cover Sea Turtle Medical Treatment in Boston<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Turtle rescuers<\/strong> often get public\u00c2\u00a0acclaim because scouring the beach on stormy nights sounds so\u00c2\u00a0risky and adventuresome.\u00c2\u00a0 Triage<\/strong> receives news coverage because it’s the first time reporters can get visual access to these tragic looking critters for the morning edition.\u00c2\u00a0 Emergency medical treatment<\/strong> in Boston steps into the limelight as metropolitan television stations and newspapers click pictures of high tech ER equipment and gowned personnel racing at “stat” pace.\u00c2\u00a0 But rarely do cameras and journalists penetrate the daily grind of rehabilitation<\/strong> to document months of yeoman sacrifice to bring these animals full cycle\u00c2\u00a0from rescue to release.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Rehab personnel and centers\u00c2\u00a0are the unsung heroes of the sea turtle rescue process and Turtle Journal salutes them.<\/p>\n

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“Fletcher” Admitted to National Marine Life Center for Rehab<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

On Thursday, the National Marine Life Center<\/a><\/strong> — a key Cape Cod rehabilitation\u00c2\u00a0facility — admitted Fletcher, a juvenile loggerhead sea turtle that stranded at Fisher Beach in Truro on November 29th.\u00c2\u00a0 Fletcher spent his first week in medical\u00c2\u00a0treatment at the New England Aquarium<\/a> in Boston.\u00c2\u00a0 He weighs 23.5 kilograms (~ 52 pounds) and\u00c2\u00a0 measures just over two feet long.\u00c2\u00a0 Active, alert and swimming well, he shows no visible signs of injury.\u00c2\u00a0 Fletcher ate for the first time on Friday and received his first meds at NMLC.\u00c2\u00a0 Welcome, Fletcher!\u00c2\u00a0 And thank you, rehabilitators!<\/p>\n

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New National Marine Life Center Animal Hospital in Buzzards Bay<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

(NOTE:\u00c2\u00a0 The National Marine Life Center<\/a><\/span> will open the doors of its new marine animal hospital in Buzzards Bay this coming year.\u00c2\u00a0 Stay\u00c2\u00a0tuned to\u00c2\u00a0Turtle Journal for progress reports on this exciting new “life raft” for\u00c2\u00a0marine critters in\u00c2\u00a0the Cape Cod area, a well\u00c2\u00a0known global stranding hot spot.\u00c2\u00a0 For those who may be interested in\u00c2\u00a0supporting this exciting initiative to save marine animal lives in the Northeast, contact the NMLC at 508-743-9888 or email the NMLC Development Team<\/a>.)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rescue >>> \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 >> Triage >>> \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 >> Treatment >>> \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0>> Rehab >>> \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0>> Release Don Lewis Examines Lively Juvenile Loggerhead When we last reported on sea turtle rescues in the Great White North, Turtle World Turned Upside Down, waves flash froze on frigid beaches and ocean water had transformed to icy slush within the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1829"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1866,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829\/revisions\/1866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}