10 Cold-Stunned Turtles to be Released Wednesday
Ten green sea turtles treated for cold stress at Mote Marine Laboratory will be returned to the sea from a Collier County Beach Wednesday morning.
These cold-stunned turtles were part of a mass stranding caused by unusually low water temperatures during the past two weeks. The cold affected more than 4,000 turtles statewide, many of which have been treated at wildlife rehabilitation facilities throughout the state, including 44 treated so far at Mote.
As water temperatures have warmed, hundreds of turtles have been released, with the majority leaving from Florida’s east coast, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), which is coordinating statewide efforts to rescue, rehabilitate and release cold-stunned turtles. Gulf-coast facilities are now also releasing turtles.
Mote’s 10 releasable turtles will be transferred to a vehicle from Mote between 8 and 9 a.m. Wednesday and transported by volunteers from Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch to Vanderbilt Beach in Naples. Turtle Watch volunteers expect to release the turtles in the early afternoon with help from the Collier County Natural Resources Department.
Ideally, sea turtles are released in the same general area where they stranded. Most of the 10 releasable sea turtles at Mote came from Sarasota and Manatee counties, but Collier County is currently the closest location with warm enough water for the turtles. Because rehab facilities are so over capacity, state officials are allowing this release.
Returning these turtles to the wild will allow Mote staff to focus on turtles with more serious and chronic health problems. All 10 releasable turtles have been slowly warmed to 71 degrees in medical pools at Mote and have been given fluids and offered food. They are behaving normally and swimming strongly.
Mote staff have treated 44 sea turtles since the week of Jan. 4 – the largest group Mote has ever treated in such a short time period. After Wednesday’s release, Mote’s Sea Turtle Hospital will still be running over capacity with 19 turtles. (Please note: Some turtles brought in for treatment have already been released; others have died or been euthanized.)
You can help sea turtles at Mote by donating items for their care. Our patients include green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas), loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), and Kemp’s ridleys (Lepidochelys kempii), all of which are threatened, endangered or critically endangered. To continue providing the best possible treatment, transportation and accommodations to our patients, Mote needs more of the following items:
* Closed-cell foam padding (this is a high priority and usually available from boat fabricators)
* Kiddie pools, wading pools, cattle waterers or other containers of a similar size that can hold water
* Spray bottles
* Towels and blankets
* Tarps
* Spring clamps (either all metal or plastic)
* Ventilated containers
* Monetary donations to pay for medications, food and satellite tags
For donations of items, please contact Stacy Alexander at 941-388-4441, ext 509, or stacyalexander@mote.org. Click here or go to www.mote.org/turtledonation to make a monetary donation now.
If you see a sick animal in the wild:
* Within Sarasota or Manatee county waters, if you see a stranded or dead dolphin, whale or sea turtle, please call Mote’s Stranding Investigations Program, a 24-hour response service, at 941-988-0212.
* If you see a stranded or dead manatee anywhere in state waters or a stranded or dead dolphin, whale or sea turtle outside of Sarasota or Manatee counties please call the FWC.