Where’d everybody go? Not too many new turtles today. So far.
Just 24 hours ago, the wildlife was serving as both turtle rescue headquarters and first aid center. We had turtles stacked in the lobby, turtles being bathed in kiddie pools and turtles boxed up and ready for pick up by the New England Aquarium. Today, most of the turtles have been collected by the aquarium which has been doing major triage on its own shipping turtles to aquariums up and down the eastern seaboard to cope with the overwhelming numbers.
Today it is quieter and it’s given us a chance to think about the huge outpouring of support we’ve received from our community: the donated banana boxes (by the hundreds), towels (ditto), the food and coffee, 50 pounds of ice, kiddie pools, pool thermometers, small heaters….what generous and kind neighbors we have!
And our volunteers…extraordinary. The energy and talent they give us is the main reason we can cope with this unprecedented experience. We can’t say thank you enough.
We have received about 950 turtles since the stranding period began. About 100 turtles remain and we wait to see what the strong south wind will push in today.