Smithsonian Magazine Write Up

Yesterday Smithsonian Magazine released their May issue online. Our department as well as the Wellfleet Bay Audubon Society was featured for our work caring for critically endangered cold-stunned Kemp's ridley sea turtles in the article: Saving the World's Most Endangered Sea Turtle.

Voyageurs #30 was found by the Smithsonian's article writer Amy Sutherland.

The writer of the article, Amy Sutherland, spent part of a day with both groups to see the process first hand. She did a "ride along" of a beach rescue and initial intake at the Mass Audubon at Wellfleet Bay, and then a road trip to the NEAq to start the medical care of the turtles. Amy found #30 Voyageurs!

Above Voyageurs is getting some fluid therapy to help with electrolyte imbalance.

After three weeks of care, Voyageurs headed north with a handful of other turtles. Many are still continuing their rehabilitation at The University of New England's Marine Animal Rehabilitation Center. We then continued to get more turtles almost daily. As the article states more turtles were moved to other centers and we currently have 28 sea turtles still at the Aquarium in the Sea Turtle Recovery Room - 25 Kemp's ridley and 3 green sea turtles.

The article was a great snapshot and overview of some of the work the stranding organizations do for these turtles, as well as conservation issues that have and still face these turtles. It is a great article for sea turtle medical care and conservation!

Oh by the way... Mentioned in the article was a nesting sea turtle. Found these photos in our archive of the turtle "Hatchet Head" Harry. Lovingly referred to that way because of the injuries to his/her head. Obviously, at the time we did not know the sex of the animal. It was awesome to find out the turtle had nested and is no longer Harry but Harriet!



Another seal in Winthrop

On Saturday morning, I received a call about a seal in Winthrop. One of our field volunteers went to check on it immediately and found a healthy harp seal resting on the beach. Everything seemed pretty quiet throughout the day and our volunteer checked on it multiple times, but by 4pm more people on the beach meant more people approaching and harassing the seal. It is normal for seals to rest on the beach and they are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which means harassing (any disturbance that will alter normal behavior including approaching, loud noise, feeding, etc.) seals is illegal. Unfortunately people started trying to pet the seal (one person almost got bit) and get it back in the water, but this does more harm than good. Here are more tips on what to do if you come across a seal on the beach.

At 4:30p I dispatched our field volunteer back out to assess the situation. She reported back that she was able to control the scene, but there were lots of people around. I asked another field volunteer to help her while a team and myself gathered our gear and headed up there.

I examined the animal and assessed that it was fairly healthy and resting on the beach. He did seem extremely stressed since he was shivering and waving his flipper at me, both of which are stress responses. I retreated back to a safe distance so that he would relax and made a plan to relocate the seal to a more remote location where he could get the rest he needed.

We decided to kennel the seal and release it on a quiet beach. Relocation is a last resort because it is an extremely stressful situation for the animal as well. The best thing would have been for it to get the rest it needed on the beach without human interference. I marked him with an orange dot prior to release so that we would be able to identify him if he came up on another beach. He ended up going back into the water, and likely found another (and hopefully quiet) beach to rest.


This is not the first time a seal in Winthrop drew a crowd. Check out this previous post to see how rescuers handled a very similar situation.


Stranded Dolphin in Revere

On Tuesday, the rescue team responded to a live dolphin. At around 4:30pm, Adam received a report of an animal, what was originally believed to be a harbor porpoise, swimming just off shore of Revere Beach. The description seemed to be the behavior of a porpoise feeding close to shore, which is normal for this species. While getting more information on the animal, it then beached itself.

Unfortunately, onlookers decided to push the dolphin back in the water in hopes that it would swim back out to sea. If a dolphin strands, it is best not to push it back in the water. Keep your distance and call our stranding hotline immediately. (Here are more tips on what to do if you encounter a stranded marine animal.) This animal ended up repeatedly beaching itself after multiple attempts to be put back in that water by onlookers, causing a great deal of stress on the animal. Luckily, the Revere Police Department arrived on scene and was able to keep people away while the rescue team was on their way.

Adam provides supportive care to the Atlantic white-sided dolphin on Revere Beach.

The animal was in the surf zone at this point and we gave permission and instructions to an individual in a wet suit to support the animal so it would not continue to be pushed around by the waves. When the rescue team arrived on scene, we were surprised to find out it actually wasn't a harbor porpoise, but a juvenile Atlantic white-sided dolphin!

The dolphin was placed in a stretcher and carried off the beach by Rescue staff and volunteers to a quiet and less stressful location for the animal.

This species is very social and would not survive without its family group. Adam used binoculars to search the open water to see if other dolphins were in the area just in case, but none were seen. If brought out to the ocean with no other animals of its species, it would not survive. The animal was brought back to the aquarium to run blood work and continue an examination. After determining this animal was in very poor condition, extremely thin and labored breathing, it was humanely euthanized.

The rescue team performed a necropsy on the animal the next day to find a cause for the stranding. There was nothing obvious to determine the cause, and pathology is pending.

A special thanks to the Revere PD for their help in this case!


Click here (Boston Herald) and here (WBZ-TV Channel 4) to read local news coverage of this event.