Baltimore: A Winter Refuge for Cold-Stunned Sea Turtles

On December 3, a group of 40 rescued sea turtles arrived at the National Aquarium from Massachusetts. They'd all been cold stunned, caught in the rapidly cooling waters of Cape Cod Bay while migrating south to escape the autumn chill. Sapped of strength and suffering from various injuries and complications, they'd washed ashore. This marked the beginning of their land-based journey, but not its end. How were they rescued? Why are they now in Baltimore? And what does the rest of the recovery process look like before they can make their way back to the ocean?

The Start of a Second Chance

As soon as the temperatures in Massachusetts start dropping, groups of volunteers and staff from organizations like the Wellfleet Audubon Society start patrolling northern beaches, looking for cold-stunned sea turtles. Some years, they may find a few hundred; other times, they'll see more than a thousand over the season. Regardless of how many they find, they swiftly bring them to frontline rescue centers, like the one at New England Aquarium, where the animals are triaged and stabilized.

With so many turtles, these frontline organizations soon hit capacity. Cue the nationwide network of partner organizations, like the National Aquarium and our Animal Rescue team. Having spent the fall preparing for an influx of sea turtle patients, these partners are called upon by frontline teams to transport and continue rehabilitating the rescued reptiles.

So, on December 1, two members of the Aquarium's Animal Rescue crew traveled to Quincy, Massachusetts, to receive 40 turtles (20 Kemp's ridley sea turtles and 20 green sea turtles). After reviewing the animals' status with New England's team, they loaded them up, set the thermostat to a gentle 70 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (to prevent shocking the turtles by warming them too quickly) and began the trek back to Baltimore.

Intake in Baltimore

Animal Rescue, Animal Health, and a slew of volunteers got to work as soon as the crew's SUV rolled into Baltimore. They unloaded dozens of banana boxes with one or two turtles each inside and brought them into the Aquarium's rehabilitation space. Although the turtles underwent initial exams while at the rescue center in Quincy, the team triaged them again in case anything had changed during transport.

Intake worked like an assembly line. Staff and volunteers moved the turtles through stations where they measured the animals' vitals, like heart and respiration rates; numbered and photographed them for records; and took their weight and size measurements.

A few turtles with poor vital signs were fast-tracked for a more detailed veterinary exam. (Vets did thorough exams of all incoming turtles within a few days of arrival, but during intake these urgent cases took precedence.) The vast majority, though, showed more promising signs: minor external injuries, middling weights, and more encouraging heart and respiration rates, despite their cold internal temperatures. A few were missing portions of flippers. And one had evidence of having escaped a predator lodged in its shell: a piece of a shark's tooth!

Veterinary staff examined the relatively stable turtles for injuries, assessed their weight, and gave them injections of fluids with antibiotics and vitamin B to kick-start the recovery process. Turtles displaying good energy levels were cleared to enter the large hospital holding pool for observation and a swim test. By evening, the majority had settled in and were swimming well and resting. Those in more serious condition were moved to smaller pools until their strength and body temperatures increase. Although some showed signs of improvement by morning, one Kemp's ridley did not and passed away, despite the staff's best efforts.

Recovery and Eventual Release

The recovery process varies depending on each turtle's injuries. Common injuries, like skin abrasions, eye lesions and frostbite damage, start to heal within weeks when treated with antibiotics and pain relievers. More serious internal injuries and illnesses, like bone infections or chronic pneumonia, require more intervention and can take months to resolve. Rare cases have required sea turtles to stay at the Aquarium for more than a year. The team has and continues to closely monitor each turtle in this year's group, watching for any complications, secondary infections and changes in appetite. The team has also picked out nicknames as they recuperate, to supplement the identification numbers written in animal-safe paint on the turtles' backs.

Every year, the team selects and follows a naming theme for the rescued animals cared for at the Aquarium. This year, the sea turtles and seals are being named for Baltimore City neighborhoods—with input from Baltimore and Maryland residents, thanks to a nomination contest held in November.

To date, the sea turtles' recuperation is going well.

Once entire batches of turtles have regained their strength and received clean bills of health, the team will begin planning their releases. Release locations will vary based on springtime water temperatures and whether turtles from other organizations are also hitching rides. But one thing is certain, there will be healthy turtles slipping back into warmer waters before summer next year.

Supporting Sea Turtles

The rescue and rehabilitation work undertaken by the Aquarium, network partners, and frontline rescue operations is crucial to saving these iconic and endangered sea turtles. However, cold-stun strandings are expected to increase as climate change expands the ranges of these turtles, leaving them with greater distances to travel to escape frigid winter water.

As strandings increase, so do the costs of rescue and rehabilitation. While network organizations receive some federal support, funds have not always been consistently available. The National Aquarium-led bipartisan Sea Turtle Rescue Assistance and Rehabilitation Act, which has gained traction before Congress in recent years, would update an existing grant program to include support for such organizations. Contacting your representatives and urging them to pass this legislation will help protect these turtles.