{"id":4554,"date":"2000-11-29T17:20:44","date_gmt":"2000-11-29T22:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=4554"},"modified":"2010-03-02T17:36:24","modified_gmt":"2010-03-02T22:36:24","slug":"miracle-at-duck-harbor-%e2%80%94-29-november-2000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/?p=4554","title":{"rendered":"Miracle at Duck Harbor \u00e2\u20ac\u201d 29 November 2000"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"11-29-1<\/a><\/p>\n

Miracle Kemp’s Ridley Rescued at Duck Harbor<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Cape was cold and blue last week as wave after wave of Kemp\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ridleys washed ashore frozen dead.\u00c2\u00a0 Internal body temperatures plunged to 32 degrees, as icy slush began to form along the shoreline.\u00c2\u00a0 We knew no ridleys could survive these Arctic conditions, and only a miracle could save any Kemp\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still lingering in the bay.\u00c2\u00a0 Well, the weather broke.\u00c2\u00a0 We had a few days of moderate temperatures and gentle winds.\u00c2\u00a0 And a miracle came to the Duck Harbor beach, bringing four live Kemp\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ridley sea turtles along with it.<\/p>\n

\"11-29-2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Biologist Kathy Tuxbury Documents Kemp’s Ridley Rescue<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Kathy Tuxbury, the research biologist at Wellfleet Bay, discovered the first turtle in the incoming tide at 11:15 this morning.\u00c2\u00a0 A nice size juvenile at 30.3 centimeters carapace length and 3.7 kilograms weight, she was quite lively and threatened to nip Kathy as she rescued her from the bay.\u00c2\u00a0 Her body temperature registered a surprisingly warm 46 degrees, but her breathing was raspy and fast.\u00c2\u00a0 So, we decided on an immediate transport to the New England Aquarium for more aggressive intervention.<\/p>\n

\"11-29-3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Cape Resident Rescues Cold-Stunned Ridley at Duck Harbor<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

As we prepared the turtle for transport, a resident walking the beach south of Kathy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s find brought in another live ridley from Duck Harbor.\u00c2\u00a0 Nearly three centimeters bigger than the earlier turtle and weighing 4.1 kilograms, she too seemed surprisingly well and sported an internal body temperature of 51.6 degrees.\u00c2\u00a0 She joined the first turtle in an ambulance run to the Sagamore Bridge rotary for relay to the New England Aquarium in Boston.<\/p>\n

\"11-29-4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Don Lewis Examines Cold-Stunned Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

By the time I got back from the turtle relay, Kathy had recovered another live Kemp\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ridley from the afternoon high tide just north of the first two turtles.\u00c2\u00a0 This one was considerably smaller at 26.65 centimeters and only 2.7 kilograms.\u00c2\u00a0 Yet, she too had a 48.5 degree body temperature and seemed in fairly good condition \u00e2\u20ac\u201d for this time of year.<\/p>\n

\"11-29-5\"<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Educator Amy Kiebala Ferreira, Students and Ridley<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

A phone call alerted us to another ridley immediately in front of the Duck Harbor parking lot.\u00c2\u00a0 Amy Kiebala, the Sanctuary\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s children education coordinator, raced her team of students to the north Wellfleet beach to rescue this turtle: 31.8 centimeters long and weighing 4.1 kilograms.<\/p>\n

\"11-29-6<\/a><\/p>\n

Don Lewis and Miracle Kemp’s Ridley at Duck Harbor Sunset<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re counting our blessings tonight: four live Kemp\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ridleys, the rarest sea turtle in the world, at least a week beyond any reasonable hope of finding another one alive in Cape Cod Bay.\u00c2\u00a0 We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re doing a lot of quick thinking, too.\u00c2\u00a0 How could these critters have survived last week\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s frigid conditions.\u00c2\u00a0 Was there a warm sink somewhere off Wellfleet in which these turtles were able to hunker down and avoid freezing?\u00c2\u00a0 Or did these ridleys mysteriously snap back from the ~ 32 degree internal body temperatures we recorded around 23\/24\/25 November?\u00c2\u00a0 Whatever the reason, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not looking a gift horse in the mouth.\u00c2\u00a0 But we are still looking.\u00c2\u00a0 Tomorrow morning sea turtle patrols will hit Wellfleet and Truro beaches around Duck Harbor, praying for a few more miracles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Miracle Kemp’s Ridley Rescued at Duck Harbor The Cape was cold and blue last week as wave after wave of Kemp\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ridleys washed ashore frozen dead.\u00c2\u00a0 Internal body temperatures plunged to 32 degrees, as icy slush began to form along the shoreline.\u00c2\u00a0 We knew no ridleys could survive these Arctic conditions, and only a miracle […]<\/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\/4554"}],"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=4554"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4570,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4554\/revisions\/4570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turtlejournal.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}