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Cold-Stunned Sea Turtles In Florida Needed Rescue: This is What Happened · How To Protect The Ocean

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  17 sea turtles were found off the coast
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  of northern Florida after a deep freeze
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  hit the north part of the state and these
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  turtles needed help.
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  They got rescued, they got added to the
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  Logged Head Marine Life
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  Center and they are on the mend.
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  We're going to talk about what cold
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  stunning is, how it happens and how these
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  sea turtles recover from it on this
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  episode of the How to
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  Protect the Ocean podcast.
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  Let's start the show.
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  Hey everybody, welcome back to another
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  exciting episode of the How
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  to Protect the Ocean podcast.
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  I'm your host, Andrew Lewin and this is
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  the podcast where you find out what's
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  happening with the ocean, how you can
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  speak up for the ocean and what you can
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  do to live for a better
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  ocean by taking action.
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  And on today's episode, we're going to be
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  talking about sea turtles and cold
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  stunning and what that is, how it affects
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  the sea turtles and how they are rescued
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  and what they need to do to go put them
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  back into the ocean.
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  We're going to talk all about that.
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  But before we do, if this is your first
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  time here, you can get all the
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  information you need to learn how to
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  protect the ocean by going to our
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  website, speakupforblue.com.
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  And if you want that information going to
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  your inbox, you can get it at
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  speakupforblue.com forward slash
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  newsletter, sign up for the email.
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  a.m. Eastern and you get
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  to enjoy that information.
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  Let's get back to the show.
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  We're talking sea turtles.
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  This happens every once in a while.
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  Sea turtles get cold stunned.
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  What is a cold stun?
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  Well, essentially sea turtles are
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  susceptible to a condition known as cold
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  stunning, which occurs when they're
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  exposed to cold water temperatures
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  leading to hypothermia and immobility.
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  This phenomenon has been documented in
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  various regions, particularly during
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  sudden cold spells, which the northern
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  part of Florida received
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  this with the past week.
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  It was kind of crazy.
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  A lot of people in northern Florida and
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  Georgia and southern part of Georgia had
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  received about two inches of snow, which
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  doesn't happen in Georgia or Florida.
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  Really interesting
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  phenomenon that happened.
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  Although there are people who really
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  enjoyed the snow and enjoyed doing what
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  they needed to do to have some fun.
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  Some animals did not enjoy it so much.
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  And these 17 sea turtles that were
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  rescued off the coast of St. Augustine,
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  Florida were brought to the loggerhead
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  marine life center in order to
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  rehabilitate before
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  going back to the ocean.
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  These sea turtles were found either on
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  the coastline where they
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  were just kind of frozen.
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  They're not frozen in terms of like
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  icicles, but they were just frozen in
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  terms of they couldn't move.
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  They were mobile.
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  They weren't feeling well.
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  They just got frozen.
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  These are still animals that have to be
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  heated by the water
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  surrounding to be helped.
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  And so this cold water that was hit the
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  ocean really quickly, because if it's
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  cold on land, it's cold in the water and
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  they just got stunned by it.
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  Literally stunned along the coastline.
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  Some sea turtles were floating
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  along the coast in the water.
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  They were rescued as well, brought to the
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  loggerhead marine life
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  center and they were helped.
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  So initially what happens when they get
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  cold, stunned, they go into like a
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  hypothermic state, right?
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  So they become lethargic.
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  They are unable to swim
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  properly and they can risk death.
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  They can risk like sinking down and not
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  being able to breathe,
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  which is not helpful, right?
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  Veterinarians and animal rescue teams
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  follow a specific and specialized
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  treatment process to rehabilitate them.
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  So the first is the initial
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  assessment and stabilization.
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  So they look at the physical examination.
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  So vets check for injuries, infections,
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  dehydration and other health concerns.
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  They look for vital signs.
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  So they'll say like they'll assess the
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  turtle's body temperature, their heart
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  rate, their respiration.
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  They'll look to do a warming process.
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  So they'll start to warm these animals up
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  one to two degrees Fahrenheit or 0.5 to
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  one degrees Celsius per day.
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  So they don't prevent a shock because you
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  can't go from heat to cold.
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  We know that shocks them and the cold
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  right back to heat again.
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  You got to do that over a number of day
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  process and that can take a long time.
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  So it's done in a controlled indoor pools
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  and dry holding areas.
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  So the medical treatment, sometimes they
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  require fluids and electrolytes because
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  dehydrated turtles will receive these
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  through intravenous or subcutaneous
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  injections to restore hydration.
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  And then there's antibiotics and
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  medications that are given if they have
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  infections, pneumonia or any other types
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  of injuries, they receive antibiotics or
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  other medications that will treat those.
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  Some of them will go
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  through oxygen therapy.
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  So some of the turtles with respiratory
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  distress will be given
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  oxygen support if necessary.
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  And then the
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  rehabilitation takes some times.
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  There's gradual water reintroduction.
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  So once stable, the turtles will be
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  placed in shallow, warm water to regain
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  some of that muscle strength.
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  Then they'll be monitored as they ensure
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  that they can swim properly and dive
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  properly because that's an important part
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  of their life history
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  and their life cycle.
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  And then the behavior assessments, the
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  look at the turtles, they must show that
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  they have normal behaviors like diving,
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  eating and responding to
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  stimuli before they are released.
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  And once they're released back into the
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  wild, they'll make sure they have a
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  health care clearance.
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  So they have the only healthy, strong
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  turtles are released showing all this
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  stuff that we just
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  talked about previously.
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  So they can go back
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  and warm and safe waters.
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  They're going to get tagged and they're
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  going to get tracked.
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  So some turtles will receive satellite
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  and flipper tags to help scientists
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  monitor their movements
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  and survival post release.
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  I did an episode on this a while ago, a
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  link to it in the show notes.
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  But I talked to Dr. Nathan Robinson, who
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  did a study just off the coast of Rhode
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  Island with cold sun turtles.
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  And they noticed that with the tracking,
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  they could actually tell
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  where these turtles go.
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  And if they look like they're still in
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  distress, they can go out, find these
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  turtles, bring them back.
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  Although it doesn't
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  happen often, it can happen.
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  And it's always good to get the turtle
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  back in, reassess it, put it back through
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  the rehabilitation process and determine
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  whether and if it can be
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  released at a later date.
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  And I think that's really important.
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  They'll be careful
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  selection of the release location.
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  So obviously turtles are released in
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  warmer waters to prevent
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  another cold stunning event.
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  I know in Florida,
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  there's not a lot of coal.
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  I know Florida doesn't really get a lot
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  of cold spells, but with this winter, you
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  don't really know what's going to happen.
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  This could be a big problem for them.
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  And so if another cold stunning happens
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  or you need to get another cold spell, a
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  polar vortex comes down again.
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  We don't want these turtles
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  to go through a deep freeze.
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  So knowing where they are is really
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  important, but also releasing them maybe
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  a little bit more south where they can
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  take a different travel plan.
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  That would be really important.
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  That's how the rehabilitation happens.
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  It's a long process.
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  It could take up to a couple of weeks,
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  maybe in three, four
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  weeks, maybe a month.
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  There may be some turtles that may not be
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  ready for quite some time
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  to be released, if at all.
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  That's the assessment
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  of the veterinarians.
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  That's the assessment of
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  the healthcare providers.
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  And I know the Logged Marine Life Center
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  has done an excellent job in the past of
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  helping these turtles out.
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  And they're all about making sure that
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  sea turtles are not only healthy and
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  safe, but they're
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  released in the proper areas.
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  I'm going to put a bunch of organizations
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  in the past that have
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  helped with this type of stuff.
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  Obviously, the Logged Marine Life Center
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  is at the top of that.
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  The New England Aquarium
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  in Massachusetts helps.
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  The Texas State
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  Aquarium will also be involved.
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  Sea Turtle Inc. in Texas is also involved
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  in North Carolina Aquariums for Sea
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  Turtle Assistant and
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  Rehabilitation Center.
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  Also known as STAR is also involved in
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  these processes in different parts along
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  the East Coast because we see this every
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  once in a while along the East Coast,
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  depending on where these cold snaps hit.
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  Obviously, if you think of Massachusetts,
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  if these sea turtles don't clear certain
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  areas, they may have a
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  problem with cold stunning.
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  And we obviously
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  don't want that to happen.
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  Sea turtles are endangered species.
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  They need to be protected.
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  All seven species are endangered.
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  Definitely need that protection.
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  Marine protected areas can help.
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  Tracking these sea turtles can help and
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  also monitoring these
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  cold snaps where they are.
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  Sometimes you may not know they're in the
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  ocean because it doesn't hit on land and
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  being able to find where these sea
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  turtles are or where the cold snaps are
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  and monitor those situations to find more
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  would be very helpful.
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  That's it for today's episode.
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  I want to give you this episode because I
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  think it's really important to see
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  hardworking people, volunteers, the
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  Logged Marine Life Center in this
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  situation, really
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  helping out these sea turtles.
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  I want to give a shout out to them and
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  thank them for doing that as well as all
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  the other people who involved in helping
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  cold sun turtles in Texas, in
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  Massachusetts and North
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  Carolina and all over the coastline.
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  It's really helpful
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  that people are there.
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  It saves these species and we need every
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  single individual of these species to be
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  saved as much as possible
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  because they go through enough.
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  That's it for today's episode.
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  If you have any questions or comment, put
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  them in the comments below.
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  If you're on YouTube or you're watching
• 1:07:53
  this on Spotify or if you're listening to
• 1:07:54
  this on your favorite podcast app, you
• 1:07:56
  can hit me up on Instagram.
• 1:07:57
  That's it for today's episode.