It wasn’t as though we hadn’t rescued a lot of cold-stunned sea turtles this fall: Our volunteers and staff had collected more than 200 from the Cape’s bayside beaches and even about a half-dozen on the ocean side.
Wellfleet Bay’s Spring Beckhorn on a very chilly night patrol.
But compared to the massive strandings of 2014, this year started late and was relatively laid back (see Sea Turtles Slow to Chill in 2015). New members of our turtle team, well acquainted with all the war stories from last year, wondered what a really busy day would look like (see One Researcher’s Reflections on a Year of Turtles).
The week-end before the start of winter, they got their answer– thanks to a strong cold front packing sandblasting west winds of 35-40 miles per hour. On Saturday evening, December 19th, 30 turtles were picked up, mostly from Wellfleet and Truro. Turtles continued to roll in the following morning and from all points–Brewster to Provincetown–and even at several ocean beaches. In just about 12 hours, we had over 100 turtles!
Bob Prescott records incoming turtles. Most are Kemp’s ridleys, an endangered species.
On Monday, the 21st, the first day of winter, the winds moved from west to southwest bringing back the mild air. Turtles continue to come in but at a much slower rate. About 70% of them have been alive. But that number will fall a bit as the winter progresses.
As this stranding season shows signs of winding down, we’re left with at least one question: where were all the loggerheads? We picked up only one! There was a record number of loggerhead sightings around the Cape and Islands last summer.
Turtle field team leader Michael Sprague brings in the season’s sole loggerhead.
And speaking of records, in spite of the slow, late start, this is our third busiest season on record with 393 turtles rescued so far. It’s not very far behind our second biggest year, 2012, when more than 400 turtles stranded.
It looks like the new members of our turtle team, now veterans, will have their own stories to tell.
Turtle team member Rebecca Shoer readies a tag for a turtle.