TOPSAIL ISLAND — The recent cold spell has kept area aquariums and the sea turtle hospital on Topsail Island busy helping cold-stunned sea turtles from North Carolina and other locations along the East Coast.
Ten live, cold-stunned juvenile green turtles were found last week on the beach south of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse.
According to information from Cape Lookout National Seashore, park volunteers Dallas and Marjorie Spruill rescued the stranded turtles and contacted park officials. Rangers Wade Keeler and Kerby Price responded and carried the turtles back to the park offices on Harkers Island.
Dr. Matthew Godfrey, state sea turtle biologist and representative of the N.C. Sea Stranding and Salvage Network, picked up the turtles. The turtles were given an initial assessment by a veterinarian and then transferred to the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center on Topsail Island.
They join a number of other recent admissions to the hospital from the Cape Lookout area.
Jon Altman, a biologist with Cape Lookout National Seashore, said the strandings are the first they’ve seen this winter.
“This is the time of year when we get a cold spell and water temperatures drop and any turtles left in inshore waters get hypothermic. They are alive, but they are non-responsive; and their temperatures cool so much they can barely function,” he said.
Jean Beasley of the sea turtle hospital said that as of Monday they were caring for 22 turtles due to cold stunning and were expecting another that evening. The new admissions are in addition to the 18 or so patients they already had.
The first cold-stunned turtle came in late last month from the Brunswick area. A loggerhead to arrive Monday evening is from Manteo, and a bulk of the others has come in from the Cape Lookout Bight area and north.
She said there may be others out there and she encourages people to call the stranding network as the turtles may still be alive even if they don’t appear to be.
“We ask people to keep an eye out. They may be floating on the water or be very lethargic, and they may be up in the marshes or on the beaches,” Beasley said.
Beasley said they aren’t in their new building yet and their space is limited but they are doing whatever they can to help.
“We’re warming them up gradually, getting them eating and getting them on the road to recovery,” she said.
North Carolina’s aquariums have also been busy helping with the rehabilitation efforts, taking in turtles recovering from the effects of the icy New England waters. The New England Aquarium in Boston has received a record 223 cold-stunned sea turtles so far this winter.
The aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores is caring for five loggerheads and two Kemp’s ridley that were among more than 200 sea turtles rescued in Massachusetts since November.
“They are all on antibiotics to stave off pneumonia and other potential infections common in cold- stuns,” said Wendy Cluse, the aquarium’s conservation and research coordinator, via a news release. “We will continue their antibiotics, as well as provide good food, vitamins, clean water and a warm place to recuperate. Once they are off antibiotics, eating well and appear to be in good health as per our veterinarian, they will be released. That could be as soon as two weeks, but may be much longer.”
A few cold-stunned turtles from North Carolina are also recovering at the Pine Knoll Shores aquarium, including a green sea turtle found near Shackleford Banks and another found near Cedar Island.
If the sea turtles recover before local water temperatures moderate, the sea turtles will be taken to the Gulf Stream for release.
Contact Jacksonville Daily News reporter Jannette Pippin at 910-382-257 or jannette.pippin@jdnews.com.