Over the last 20 years, the number of stranded sea turtles has increased in the waters off the northeastern coast of the United States. As a result, special animal hospitals in the New England area are now treating many sea turtles. Some kinds of these animals are highly endangered.
The turtles enter waters such as Cape Cod Bay when the weather is warm. But when temperatures drop, they cannot escape to head south, said Adam Kennedy. He is the director of rescue and rehabilitation at the New England Aquarium.
The aquarium operates a turtle hospital in Quincy, Massachusetts. On December 3, Kennedy said more than 200 young turtles needed to be treated there. The animals had been stunned by the cold.
The cold-stunned sea turtles wash up on the shores of Cape Cod every fall and winter. Kennedy said aquarium workers expect the number of turtles that they rescue to climb to at least 400. He said the average in 2010 was 40.
Kennedy said, “Climate change certainly is allowing those numbers of turtles to get in where normally the numbers weren’t very high years ago.” He added that high winds and falling temperatures caused the recent strandings.
In the early 2010s, the five-year average of cold-stunned sea turtles in Massachusetts was around 200. In recent years, that number has grown to more than 700. These numbers come from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
All the turtles at the New England Aquarium’s hospital are young. Most are the highly endangered Kemp’s ridley turtles. The migration of these turtles often causes them to become stranded in the New England area. But some are green turtles or loggerheads which are not as endangered.
Kemp’s ridley is the world’s smallest sea turtle. The turtles mostly live in the Gulf of Mexico. But they travel into the northern Atlantic Ocean when young. A 2019 study in the scientific publication PLoS One said ocean warming increases the chance that turtles will become stunned by the cold in the waters of the Northwest Atlantic. The study said warmer water might push the turtles north in a way that makes stranding more likely.
Melissa Joblon is director of animal health at the New England Aquarium. She said most turtles that arrive at the center are sick: “The majority of the turtles arrive with serious ailments such as pneumonia, dehydration, traumatic injuries, or sepsis.”
The turtle hospital treats the animals so they can be returned to the wild. Kennedy said they are put in local waters or even taken south to warmer waters. He said about 80 percent survive.
“At the end of the day,” Kennedy said, “getting these turtles back to the wild is what we are doing and what we want. We want them back in the ocean.”
I’m Anna Matteo.
Patrick Whittle reported this story for the Associated Press from Portland, Maine. Anna Matteo adapted the report for VOA Learning English.
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Words in This Story
stranded –adj. to be unable to leave a place
rehabilitation –n. the process of bringing a person or any living thing back to health after an accident or sickness
aquarium –n. a place that shows and takes care of fish and other sea life
stun –v. to make senseless, groggy, or dizzy by or as if by a blow
allow –v. to let something happen
migration –n. to regular movement of animals from one place to another to find food or better weather conditions
ailment –n. a sickness or condition that causes pain or poor health