600-pound turtle stranded in Wellfleet rescued
A 600-pound leatherback sea turtle that was stranded on Cape Cod is back in the ocean after rescuers helped save the massive animal.
Rescuers on Sunday responded to a report of a live leatherback on a mud flat along the Herring River in Wellfleet. Bob Prescott, director emeritus for Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, said he and volunteers worked to keep the leatherback from drifting with the quickly incoming tide.
“We wanted to keep it off the oysters and keep it from stranding somewhere we couldn’t rescue it,” he added. “If it got away, there was no telling where it would strand next.”
Those with Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary then contacted the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the New England Aquarium to help rescue the large turtle, which is estimated to be about 5 feet long and weigh 600 pounds.
The adult male turtle was alert and responsive.
“To safely move a stranded turtle this large, our specially designed heavy-duty transport cart, stretchers and mats were ideal — originally designed by IFAW for moving dolphins and other small whales,” said Kira Kasper, a biologist for the Marine Mammal Rescue and Research program at IFAW.
Responders decided to relocate and release the turtle, transferring it to Herring Cove in Provincetown where rescue and animal health staff from the aquarium conducted a health assessment.
“Our initial evaluation indicated that the turtle was very strong and in good body condition, and this helped us to decide that it was a good candidate for release,” said Charles Innis, director of animal health at the New England Aquarium.
Innis analyzed a blood sample to assess the turtle’s health and gave the turtle injections of vitamins and a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Aquarium staff then placed small ID tags — microchip and metal band — on the turtle along with acoustic and satellite tags.
The turtle was then released back into the ocean, with a crowd looking on and cheering.
The aquarium is tracking the turtle with a satellite pop-up tag that will determine if it survives over the next 30 days. The acoustic tag will monitor the turtle’s migration patterns over the next five to 10 years.
“When working with stranded sea turtles in New England, it’s a rarity to have a turtle that is in such good condition,” said Kara Dodge, research scientist at the aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life. “We suspect this leatherback got disoriented in the tidal flats of Wellfleet and we feel optimistic that it will survive, thanks to the collective rescue efforts of this fantastic group of colleagues.”