Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle, Stranded in Holland, Released on Texas Coast

Image: National Park Service. 

They named her Flip — a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle found last December, stranded on the coast of Holland.  She was injured and stunned by the cold.

But the scientists and animal lovers who rescued her took advantage of a key fact about Kemps’ Ridleys — that while they’re endangered, they are also among the world’s great long-distance travelers.  Specialists nursed her back to health, and released her into the water today — off the coast of south Texas.

“We couldn’t have asked for it to go any better,” said Iain Scouller, the general manager of Sea Life Aquarium Grapevine, based near Dallas-Fort Worth.  “We set her loose at high tide, and off she went.”

A lot of effort went into the rescue of a single four-year-old turtle, but Scouller said it matters for a species very much in danger of disappearing.

“It’s as much symbolic as anything,” he said.

His colleague, Karen Rifenbury, joined in. “One turtle makes a great difference because of the number of eggs she’ll lay in her lifetime.  We hope she will help revive the species.”

Flip was found on the rocky Dutch coast last December, about 5,000 miles from her likely birthplace in the Gulf of Mexico, and slowly nursed back to health by staff members at a Dutch aquarium.  She was then flown from Amsterdam to Houston — the aquarium staff is quick to thank KLM, the Dutch airline — in a special container that kept the water around her at 22 degrees Centigrade (about 75 degrees Fahrenheit).  She was driven to Port Aransas, Texas, for today’s release.

“It is likely that most individuals remain in the Gulf of Mexico for their entire lives,” wrote Donna Shaver of the National Park Service, in an email to ABC News. “However, some juveniles are shunted out of the Gulf of Mexico through the Gulf Stream and travel up the Atlantic coast of the U.S. to forage in nearshore waters and bays as far north as Massachusetts.”

Shaver has devoted much of her career to the preservation of sea turtles, and said it was rare, and risky, for a turtle like Flip to have gotten as far as northern Europe.  “There are only a few records of Kemp’s Ridleys being found stranded alive in this region. The waters there are too cold for their survival.”

Flip, at last report, is safely out in the warm waters of the Gulf, wearing an identification tag and a satellite transmitter glued to the back of her shell.  Turtles’ shells grow, and have a waxy protective layer over them, so the transmitter will probably come off at some point, but in the meantime it will provide useful data on Flip’s travels.  People will be able to track Flip at SeaTurtle.org.

“This is much bigger than a single turtle,” said Scouller.  “It shows that every one counts.”

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com

Rescued 655-Pound Sea Turtle Released

(ABC News)

ABC News’ Katie Kindelan and Candace Smith report:

A giant sea turtle that has been described as “like a swimming dinosaur” has been released back into the waters this weekend after it was rescued from a mud flat near the tip of Cape Cod, according to New England Aquarium officials.

The 7-foot-long, 655-pound black male leatherback turtle, an endangered species, was treated with “drugs to stabilize its blood values and oxygen levels,” The Associated Press reported.

The turtle was found late Wednesday night on a mud flat in Pamet Harbor, near the town of Truro, Mass., by staff from a local Audubon sanctuary.

Due to darkness and the remote location, the staff had to leave the turtle until Thursday morning. Then they had to rely on a team of volunteers and a transport cart normally used to carry stranded dolphins to hoist the turtle onto a vehicle to take it to the Aquarium’s marine animal care center.

READ MORE:  Rare, Tiny Sea Turtles Spotted

Aquarium spokesman Tony LaCasse described the turtle as “near death” when he arrived at the aquarium.   One of its massive flippers had been partly severed, likely the result of some sort of predatory attack or a run-in with a boat, according to LaCasse.

The straight line of damaged tissue on the flipper points to a possible entanglement in a vertical line in the water, perhaps from a lobster pot or a boat mooring.  Nearly 20 leatherbacks have died in New England waters this season from such accidents, according to the aquarium.

The injury to the turtle’s left flipper affected its ability to forage for food and could have led to an infection.

A leatherback rescue is rare because the animals are open-ocean turtles and cannot be kept in captivity.  Even at 655 pounds, the turtle is considered skinny in comparison to its fellow leatherbacks, which typically weigh around 1,000 pounds, according to LaCasse.

Leatherbacks flock to Cape Cod and surrounding islands each June to feed on the jellyfish that are abundant in the waters. They migrate south for the winter beginning this month and into October, according to the aquarium.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com

Endangered Sea Turtle Fights for Life After Rescue

ABC News’ Katie Kindelan and Candace Smith report:

A giant sea turtle described as “like a swimming dinosaur” is clinging to life at the New England Aquarium after it was rescued from a mud flat near the tip of Cape Cod.

The 7-foot-long, 655-pound black male leatherback turtle, an endangered species, was found late Wednesday night on a mud flat in Pamet Harbor, near the town of Truro, Mass., by staff from a local Audubon sanctuary.

READ MORE:  Rare, Tiny Sea Turtles Spotted

Because of darkness and the remote location, the staff had to leave the turtle until Thursday morning. Then they had to rely on a team of volunteers and a transport cart normally used to carry stranded dolphins to hoist the turtle onto a vehicle to take it to the Aquarium’s marine animal care center.

Aquarium staff are now working overtime to save the turtle, only the fifth of its kind in 40 years to have been found stranded and alive on a Massachusetts beach.

“We are crossing our fingers and will do everything we can do to keep it alive,” the Aquarium’s Tony LaCasse told ABCNews.com.

“The feeling is to view a live leatherback up close is such a rare opportunity,” he said.  “The staff are keen to work with such an animal.”

LaCasse described the turtle as “near death” when he arrived at the aquarium.   One of its massive flippers had been partly severed, likely the result of some sort of predatory attack or a run-in with a boat, according to LaCasse.

The straight line of damaged tissue on the flipper points to a possible entanglement in a vertical line in the water, perhaps from a lobster pot or a boat mooring.  Nearly 20 leatherbacks have died in New England waters this season from such accidents, according to the aquarium.

The injury to the turtle’s left flipper affected its ability to forage for food and could have led to an infection.  Biologists are now treating the turtle with drugs for dehydration, trauma and shock.

A leatherback rescue is so rare because the animals are open-ocean animals and cannot be kept in captivity.  Even at 655 pounds, this one is actually skinny in comparison to its fellow leatherbacks which typically weigh around 1,000 pounds, according to LaCasse.

Doctors treating the turtle have not been able to confirm its age but estimate it is at least 25 to 30 years old.

Leatherbacks flock to Cape Cod and surrounding islands each June feed on the jellyfish that are abundant in the waters. They migrate south for the winter beginning this month and into October, according to the aquarium.

Officials say though they hope for the best, the leatherback’s chance for a full recovery is unclear, because in order to get stranded on the mud flat where it was found it had to be critically ill.

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com