2016 Brings Over 300 Cold-Stunned Turtles Into the Caring Hands of NHES’ Alliance Partner, NEST, in Kitty Hawk, NC - National Humane Education Society

In active partnership with NHES, Network for Endangered Sea Turtles (NEST) works to conserve sea turtles off the coast of North Carolina, all of which are federally threatened or endangered. In early January 2016, unusual weather events threatened the lives of hundreds of these turtles; in response, NEST took the lead and saved hundred from near-certain death.

What Happened?
Winter started off mildly in the southern U.S., with unusually high temperatures keeping ocean waters warm well into late December. However, by early January, the air temperatures dropped to 30 degrees. As the water temperature plummeted below 50, sea turtles began to suffer en-masse from a condition biologists refer to as “cold-stunning.” Cold-stunned turtles experience a depletion of energy that leaves them unable to feed, evade predators, or swim to warmer waters. As a result, hundreds of these turtles washed up on Cape Hatteras.

                                          Photo by NEST

NEST to the Rescue
NEST volunteers knew from tracking the weather that a mass-cold stunning event would be likely. In response, droves of volunteers, many of whom served through NEST, patrolled the island in frigid weather rescuing stranded turtles. Once the turtles reached the caring hands of NEST volunteers, they were taken to a staging area established by NEST where each turtle was evaluated and tagged and then moved to the Sea Turtle Assistance and Rehabilitation Center (STAR Center) where NEST volunteers also serve as the turtles’ caretakers.

In the following days, the turtles were gradually warmed. Here, recovering turtles underwent “swim tests.” Not unlike a swim test you and I took in kindergarten, turtles were released into large sea water tanks to demonstrate their swimming abilities to an observing veterinarian before being released back into the wild.

Turtles Safely Released Back into the Wild
In a typical year, NEST treats approximately 100 cold-stunned sea turtles. At this juncture, approximately 349 cold-stunned turtles have been rescued, with only a few fatalities. Young green turtles between the ages of 3-10 years comprised most of the patients. (These turtles are effectively babies, as green turtles do not reach maturity until over 40 years of age!) At this writing, over 300 of these plate-sized turtles have been safely transported to the warm waters of Florida for release while the others have been released into the Gulf Stream where there is an abundance of food and warmer water. The remaining turtles are receiving medical care at the STAR Center.

Photo by NEST

NHES is proud to be a major funder of NEST and to share one of NEST’s many success stories with you. To learn more about NHES and its alliance partnership with NEST, please click here: https://nhes.wpengine.com/about/nhes-partners-and-affiliates/