A 175-pound female loggerhead sea turtle was discovered hypothermic in a Wellfleet salt marsh Sunday. Zach Cesarini, 5, of Bowling Green, Ohio, took a look at the turtle, since named Acadia, during her recovery at the New England Aquarium.
(David L. Ryan/ Globe Staff)
Sea turtle rescued from Cape marsh
A 175-pound female loggerhead sea turtle was discovered hypothermic in a Wellfleet salt marsh Sunday. Zach Cesarini, 5, of Bowling Green, Ohio, took a look at the turtle, since named Acadia, during her recovery at the New England Aquarium.
(David L. Ryan/ Globe Staff)
A large sea turtle was recovering in a water tank at the New England Aquarium yesterday after being rescued from a salt marsh on Cape Cod where it was stranded and in danger of dying of hypothermia.
Tony LaCasse, aquarium spokesman, said the 175-pound adult female loggerhead was discovered in the Drummer Cove Pond salt marsh in Wellfleet by a Rhode Island man Sunday evening. The man contacted officials at the Massachusetts Audubon Society sanctuary, who decided to wait and see whether the turtle would return to the water on her own. The turtle stayed put.
New England Aquarium biologists, contacted by Massachusetts Audubon, traveled to the marsh Monday morning to examine the creature, which they have named Acadia. The turtle had a body temperature of 54.8 degrees and was deemed hypothermic.
Sea turtles are cold-blooded reptiles, LaCasse explained, and their internal body temperature changes based on the temperature around them. The temperature of Cape Cod Bay was near 60 degrees.
“Water temperatures do not change as quickly as air temperatures,’’ LaCasse said. “We think she was left behind by the tide and became hypothermic.’’
The turtle was taken to the aquarium in Boston for examination Monday, LaCasse said. The bloodwork was abnormal, and she was found to be anemic, with low blood sugar levels. Acadia is “alert, but lethargic,’’ LaCasse said, and is swimming in the large tank at the aquarium with other turtles.
“With a turtle that size, it should be more difficult for us to handle,’’ LaCasse said, referring to her lethargic manner. “There’s some other abnormalities, and we’re looking to see how to treat her.’’
Although it is common in November for turtles to be stranded on Cape Cod, Acadia is a different story. She was found in mid-October and she is an older, larger turtle compared with the younger turtles that are usually found that weigh four to 10 pounds.
“Most turtles we rescue in November are Kemp’s Ridley turtles, who are hypothermic and then become stranded,’’ LaCasse added. “Acadia was out of the water due to the low tide and then became hypothermic.’’
Acadia is scheduled for more examinations. If she is deemed healthy enough in the next few days, LaCasse said, she will be taken to the mid-Atlantic states and released there, where she will have a shorter trip south.
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