Some very cold sea turtles have flown south just for the winter

As the calendar turns to winter and water temperatures drop in parts of the Atlantic Ocean, dozens of cold-stunned sea turtles that washed up in critical condition in Massachusetts have been flown south for the winter on private planes.

No, these sea turtles aren’t the most glamorous reptiles in the Northeast, but the special treatment they receive could save their lives.

On Tuesday, conservationists from the New England Aquarium’s sea turtle hospital in Boston flew the largest group yet of endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, 51 of them in varying conditions, to facilities in Florida, said Adam Kennedy, director of rescue and rehabilitation at the aquarium . The aquarium had to make room for newcomers.

It was the last group to be flown south in recent weeks. Last week, 35 turtles were flown to facilities in North Carolina, according to a press release from the aquarium, and another 15 turtles were taken to the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

Sixteen of the turtles traveling to Florida were sent to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. The remainder was split between the Florida Aquarium in Tampa, the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach and the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota.

Mr Kennedy said all rescued turtles are young, between 1 and 3 years old, and their rescue and eventual release into the ocean plays a role in their conservation.

“At this stage they have a better chance of reaching adulthood than when they were young,” he said. “And then, of course, once they’re adults, they can grow and nest, and have more babies, and hopefully that population continues to increase.”

The flights were arranged with volunteer pilots. “I know we are flying and we are talking about conservation, but these turtles are still in very poor condition,” Mr Kennedy said, adding that the transport had to be done quickly. “You don’t want to put unnecessary pressure on them, causing them to relapse and possibly die.”

Sea turtles are cold-blooded and lack the ability to regulate their body temperature. When the water temperature drops below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, their internal body temperature also drops, causing them to become numb from the cold, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries Service. In this condition, the turtles become weak and inactive and may be washed to shore. If their temperatures remain low or the turtles are not rescued, they may develop health problems or die.

Cold-stunning events can occur in extreme cold weather conditions and have occurred repeatedly in recent decades in waters as far north as Cape Cod Bay in Massachusetts and as far south as Corpus Christi Bay in Texas.

According to the New England Aquarium, sea turtles, some driven by high winds, appeared on the shores of Cape Cod in early November. More than 200 sea turtles have been treated so far this season, including 186 critically endangered Kemp’s turtles, 19 green turtles and six loggerhead turtles.

The aquarium said some turtles suffered from dehydration, pneumonia and injuries such as broken shells. As a result, treatment can vary from a week to more than a year before the turtles can be released into the ocean.

“Our survival rate is somewhere between 70 and 80 percent, depending on how severe the winter is,” Mr Kennedy said. “Once they get through the first three days in rehabilitation and they have what we would consider a more normal body temperature and what waters they would normally be in, the numbers go up quite a bit.”

Mr Kennedy said it was difficult to know exactly how many turtles would be rescued in the coming months, but he said an average of about 400 sea turtles were rescued each year.

“Our hope is that the wind will blow and bring all the turtles in because the turtles that are in Cape Cod Bay right now are not going to survive,” he said. ‘They are doing their best, hoping it will be warm. But people in the Northeast know that won’t happen anytime soon.”