Cautionary Tale: Fifth Kemp’s Ridley of the Season
— 19 November 2000
This morning a beach walker discovered a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle
north of Kingsbury Beach in Eastham. Showing no obvious signs
of life, the turtle was left exposed on a washed-ashore tire. Hours later,
the discoverer phoned the Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary to report finding “a dead
turtle.”
Cold-stunned and now further chilled and dehydrated from exposure, this
plucky juvenile still clung to life. At only 9.5 inches long and less than
5 pounds, she had lost considerable body heat, registering an internal
temperature of only 52°F, and she had sustained some nasty cuts and
abrasions as she was driven helplessly ashore.
Her partly opened eyes, which displayed no movement, were cleaned
and dowsed in a protective ointment. Her nose had been bruised
and bloodied in beaching, as had the side of her head, underneath her
neck, and the nail area of her left rear flipper. But to enhance her chance
of survival, after a rocky start on the beach, we immediately rushed her to the
New England Aquarium, where her injuries and hypothermic condition could be more
aggressively treated.
The handoff took place at the Sagamore Bridge rotary, mid-way between
Boston’s New England Aquarium and Wellfleet Bay at the end of the
universe. The fifth Kemp’s ridley of the season sped off with NEAQ’s
Marine Animal Rescue, along with our hopes and prayers for her recovery.
The important lesson for everyone associated with strandings is treat every beached
critter as alive. When dealing with the rarest and most endangered sea turtle in the
world, always err on the side of life.
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