There are a lot of perks that come with membership at the New England Aquarium, like express admission all year and discounts at the Cafe and Gift Shop. Now you can add our new Member of the Week recognition to that list. How can members participate? Just show up and visit your Aquarium! We'll be randomly selecting members for this special honor throughout the fall. 

Meet Laura, Noah and Penelope from Brookline, our Members of the Week. We found them at the Pacific Reef Community in the Tropical Gallery as Penelope was “finding Nemo,” pointing out to her mom the brightly-colored clownfish she had spotted. Their family recently moved here from Birmingham, Alabama. “Noah loves all things aquatic, so we knew we had to get a membership,” Laura told us, adding, “We’re here every week!”  


Laura, Noah, and a very camera-shy Penelope: our Members of the Week 

For being our Members of the Week, they received a free 4”x6” photo from our friends at SharpShooter, a copy of the beautifully illustrated Aquarium souvenir guidebook, a turtle shell glass paperweight handcrafted by artist Robin Lehman and plush polar bears from To the Arctic 3D, one of the films you can currently see in the Simon’s IMAX Theatre.

This is a media release cross-posted from the Aquarium's Rescue Blog. Find out how you can support the Aquarium and their efforts to rescue and protect endangered animals here.

With more than 100 rescued sea turtles in care at the Aquarium's Animal Care Center, the rescue team is transferring 18 stable animals all over the East Coast to make room for the ever-growing number of cold-stunned sea turtle patients.

The mass stranding of hypothermic sea turtles on Cape Cod reached a new peak Thursday as 22 more of the endangered and threatened marine reptiles were collected by Massachusetts Audubon staff and volunteers and transferred to the New England Aquarium's rescue facilities in Quincy. Since Monday, 67 animals of three different turtle species have been found stranded on Cape Cod Bay beaches with body temperatures in the mid to high 40's.



This loggerhead sea turtle was among seven that were rescued in a 24 hour period from November 27 to November 28. That many loggerheads is more than usually are seen in an entire two month stranding season.


The mass wash-up of cold stunned sea turtles on this scale is believed to happen no where else in the world. Sick sea turtles do strand each November and December on Cape Cod. The Aquarium's record for treating sea turtles that arrive still alive is 144. Yesterday's 22 new patients pushed this season's total to 107 animals received, and Aquarium officials think that might just be at the half-way point.

Compounding the massive volume and pace of the strandings is a new phenomenon of a record number of large loggerhead sea turtles arriving. Usually, 90 percent of the sea turtles that strand are 2 to 12 pound juvenile Kemp's ridleys. On Wednesday and Thursday, eleven 50 to 100 pound loggerheads arrived. In a normal year, the Aquarium might handle four or five of the husky, chestnut brown turtles in an entire season. The big turtles quickly fill tank space in the Aquarium's state of the art rescue facility which is optimally designed to handle about 100 smaller turtles.

To make space for more incoming turtles, the Aquarium has been reaching out to fellow marine animal rescue facilities and aquariums up and down the East Coast. Thursday, eight re-warmed and stable Kemp's were driven to the National Marine Life Center on Cape Cod. Friday, four more Kemp's will be flown out of Norwood to the Virginia Aquarium on a donated flight from Lighthawk, which is a network of private pilots that help move endangered wildlife around the U.S.

Also Friday, six big loggerheads will be transported to the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine. Later this week, Worcester-based Polar Beverages will fly more sea turtles to Maryland and Georgia. The Aquarium is grateful for both the generosity and expertise of these partners in helping save endangered sea turtles.

Additional reading:

• See what Thanksgiving is like in the turtle rescue ward.
• Walk the beaches with a volunteer searching for sea turtles.
• Get a feel for the early days of the sea turtle stranding season here and here.
• And check out a day in the life of the turtle rescue team.

This media release is cross-posted on the Aquarium's Rescue Blog, where you can learn more about turtle rescue and rehabilitation and keep tabs on the busy season in progress. Support sea turtle rescue efforts here.

Over the last few days, more than 45 endangered sea turtles of three different species have washed up on the shores of Massachusetts' Cape Cod Bay near death with body temperatures in the high 40's. Most people don't think of sea turtles being in New England waters even in the summertime so much as just weeks before the winter holidays.


Dr. Charles Innis, the Aquarium's head veterinarian and a renowned turtle specialist, listens for a heartbeat on a newly admitted 60-pound, sub-adult loggerhead sea turtle. Turtles with temperature in the low to mid 40's can come in with a heartbeat as low as one per minute and still be re-warmed. Reptiles are tough and amazing. 

Wednesday with winds blowing steadily out the northeast, the wave activity carried these mostly inert turtles on to the beaches of this beautiful but sometimes deadly peninsula. The juvenile two to ten pound Kemp's ridley and green sea turtles and the 40 to 70 pound sub-adult loggerheads migrated up the East Coast early last summer to feed mostly on crabs in these rich, marine waters. In September, the instinct to swim south was most likely clear but once on the north side of Cape Cod, these young turtles were not able to solve the difficult navigation problem of getting out of the deadly bucket of Cape Cod Bay. Swimming south, east or west leads to land barriers. Swimming in the counter-intuitive direction of north for 20 miles is the only safe passage out before turning south at the tip of Cape Cod.


A juvenile green sea turtle on medical intake on November 28. Note the fungus and build-up of materials on the shell due to lack of activity.

For those sea turtles that fail to do so, they slowly become hypothermic over two months as water temperatures steadily decline through the autumn. By November, the remaining turtles are near death with low body temperatures but are also usually severely dehydrated, malnourished and host to a variety of infections. If they are lucky, the first steady, strong winds of the winter push their inactive bodies ashore, mostly on the Outer Cape. There, dedicated staff and volunteers of the Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary at Wellfleet Bay walk the beaches in often brutal weather conditions to find the stranded reptiles. It is a life and death game of beat he clock as rescuers try to find the sea turtles before scavengers such as coyotes, raccoons or sea gulls do.


This loggerhead sea turtle was among seven that were rescued in a 24 hour period from November 27 to November 28. That many loggerheads is more than usually are seen in an entire two month stranding season.

Turtles once found are collected and brought to the sanctuary headquarters. Four times on Wednesday, volunteer drivers left Wellfleet to drive the 90 miles to the New England Aquarium's state of the art sea turtle rehabilitation facility in a retrofitted, brick warehouse in the old Quincy Shipyard, ten miles south of Boston. There, Aquarium biologists, veterinarians and volunteers quickly and efficiently triaged, cleaned and treated the new patients. It was not unlike a scene out of a big city ER. The 45 new patients over the past three days are each being slowly re-warmed five degrees per day. They were greeted by about 45 other sea turtles that had stranded since early November were now busily swimming in the rehab's center large clear tanks.

With over 90 turtles rescued and several weeks remaining in the stranding season, Aquarium officials believe that this year might rank in the top three ever. What has made this year even more unusual is the large number of 50 to 70 pound loggerhead sea turtles stranding. Most years, the Aquarium treats a handful of the husky, chestnut brown colored turtles. In the past 24 hours, seven loggerheads have already been rescued. The large turtles strain the available tank space in a facility that is designed to care for about 100 sea turtles. Plans are already underway to move some of the healthier animals to other sea turtle facilities, particularly in the South. The Aquarium is seeking the services of volunteer pilots with their own planes who might have room for some unusual and precious cargo for flights to Virginia, Georgia and Florida.

The Aquarium and Mass Audubon have rescued, rehabilitated and released over 1000 endangered sea turtles in the past twenty years. Private donations have been key to sustaining this effort that has been making a tangible difference in the recovery of the world's most endangered sea turtle. Support sea turtle rescue efforts here.

Follow the Rescue Blog for the latest on this busy season. Watch video of previous sea turtle patients in treatment here.  See how dedicated rescue staff and volunteers celebrate holidays. And look for media coverage about this season's more recent sea turtle rescues here, here, here and here.

Due to ongoing construction, the Aquarium is opening one hour later at 10 a.m. on weekdays through December 21. Please keep this hours change in mind when planning your next visit.

Temporary Construction Hours
Dates: November 28 - December 21
Monday - Friday: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. (no change)

We appreciate the support of visitors and members as the Aquarium's transformation continues. The new Aquarium experience is scheduled for completion in early summer 2013.
 

The Aquarium's interior during renovation (Photo: J. Correa)

There are a lot of perks that come with membership at the New England Aquarium, like express admission all year and discounts at the Cafe and Gift Shop. Now you can add our new Member of the Week recognition to that list. How can members participate? Just show up and visit your Aquarium! We'll be randomly selecting members for this special honor throughout the fall.

We’d like to introduce you to Julien and Reilly, our Members of the Week. We met them in the lower level of our West Wing at the Jellies exhibit. Their family recently came to our area from Atlanta, but they had visited the Aquarium before and, as Julien told us, they became New England Aquarium members right after they moved.




This week’s visit was a special daddy/daughter day, “so [Reilly] could take her time and ask all of her five million questions,” as her mother told us via email. Reilly said that she likes to touch the rays in The Trust Family Foundation Shark and Ray Touch Tank, but that her little brother Ryan—who was having his own mommy/son day at home—likes sharks. In fact, she informed us that Ryan wants, “a flying shark that’s as big as my mom,” for Christmas. (We’re pretty sure this flying shark from our Gift Shop isn’t quite as big as Reilly’s mother.)

For being our Members of the Week, Julien and Reilly received a free 4”x6” photo from our friends at SharpShooter; a copy of the beautifully illustrated Aquarium souvenir guidebook; a copy of Ice Island, by Dr. Greg Stone Ph.D., Aquarium Senior Vice President of Ocean Exploration and Conservation; and two plush sharks—one for Reilly and one for her to take home to Ryan.


So what do you have to do to be our Member of the Week? Just visit! You could win on any day of the week, any time of day. We'll be announcing winners right here on the News Blog every Friday. So come on down and visit Myrtle in her new home in the penguin exhibit, check in with those boisterous sea lions, search for seadragons, see the little blue penguins in their temporary exhibit  and experience the Aquarium's exciting transformation first hand. Who knows, you could be our next Member of the Week

There are a lot of perks that come with membership at the New England Aquarium, like express admission all year and discounts at the Cafe and Gift Shop. Now you can add our new Member of the Week recognition to that list. How can members participate? Just show up and visit your Aquarium! We'll be randomly selecting members for this special honor throughout the fall.

This week, we are pleased to name Dianne and Carter our Members of the Week. Their Natick household joined as New England Aquarium members only a few months ago. In fact, they told us this is their first visit since receiving their membership cards in the mail. When asked why they chose to become Aquarium members, Dianne told us it was because Carter, “loves everything here.” She added, “My daughter is only one and already loves everything here.”



For being our Members of the Week, they received a free 4”x6” photo from our friends at SharpShooter, a copy of the beautifully illustrated Aquarium souvenir guidebook, a turtle shell glass paperweight handcrafted by artist Robin Lehman and a plush clownfish.

So what do you have to do to be our Member of the Week? Just visit! You could win on any day of the week, any time of day. We'll be announcing winners right here on the News Blog every Friday. So come on down and visit Myrtle in her new home in the penguin exhibit, check in with those boisterous sea lions, search for seadragons, see the little blue penguins in their temporary exhibit  and experience the Aquarium's exciting transformation first hand. Who knows, you could be our next Member of the Week!

There are a lot of perks that come with membership at the New England Aquarium, like express admission all year and discounts at the Cafe and Gift Shop. Now you can add our new Member of the Week recognition to that list. How can members participate? Just show up and visit your Aquarium! We'll be randomly selecting members for this special honor throughout the fall.

This week, we are pleased to name Rachel, Rishi and Devan our Members of the Week. We caught these Westford residents in the Harbor View Café getting ready to enjoy some mid-day snacks with Rishi’s and Devan’s aunt Lauren and cousin Mikah. Our awardees recently moved to Massachusetts from the great state of Texas and joined as Aquarium members just this past August. (Rachel says two hurricanes hit Texas when they first moved there and apologizes for bringing them to New England as well.)  Rishi told us that he wanted to see “five things” at the Aquarium today – the first of which being our seadragons.


Left to right, in the front row: Mikah, Rishi. Back row: Rachel, Devan, Lauren.

For being our Members of the Week, they received a free 4”x6” photo from our friends at SharpShooter, a copy of the beautifully illustrated Aquarium souvenir guide book, a turtle shell glass paperweight handcrafted by artist Robin Lehman and each of the boys took home their own plush seal.

So what do you have to do to be our Member of the Week? Just visit! You could win on any day of the week, any time of day. We'll be announcing winners right here on the News Blog every Friday. So come on down and visit Myrtle in her new home in the penguin exhibit, check in with those boisterous sea lions, search for seadragons (like Rishi!), see the little blue penguins in their temporary exhibit  and experience the Aquarium's exciting transformation first hand. Who knows, you could be our next Member of the Week! 

Cold Weather Turns up First Hypothermic Sea Turtles of the Season on Cape Cod

Beyond the wet snow, another sure sign of oncoming winter is the beginning of the sea turtle stranding season on Cape Cod each November and December. The first two hypothermic sea turtles of the season have arrived at the New England Aquarium’s Animal Care Center in Quincy, with four more expected this afternoon. Beach walkers with the Mass Audubon Sanctuary at Wellfleet Bay first found stranded endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles Tuesday at Crow’s Pasture Beach in Dennis and another in Brewster. The wave activity from today’s storm washed ashore additional sea turtles that had been floating due to low body temperatures. Hardy beach walkers braved the nasty weather in search of the endangered reptiles and found three more young Kemp’s ridleys and a loggerhead that is estimated to weigh 50 pounds. (Learn the difference between Kemp's ridley and green sea turtles and how they're cared for in this webcast.)


The first two sea turtle patients. Each turtle will be receiving some physical therapy in the form of a supervised swim as seen in the images attached.

These two, juvenile Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are being slowly re-warmed about five degrees per day at the New England Aquarium’s Animal Care Center in Quincy. The 3 and 5 pound sea turtles were found in Dennis and Brewster with body temperatures of 55.7 and 58.6, close to the water temperature of eastern Cape Cod Bay. Humans would be long dead with that low a body temperature, but sea turtles are cold-blooded and with medical intervention can even survive body temperatures in the low 40’s. The black shelled turtles will have their body temperatures increased just five degrees per day for four days until their body temperatures are in the mid-70’s. This slow re-warming strategy helps the turtles fight off infections.


Samantha MacEwan  a volunteer with the New England Aquarium guides the short swim of a hypothermic sea turtles that had stranded just a day before.

Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are the most endangered sea turtle in the world, and each summer hundreds of them migrate to the Cape to feed on crabs. However, each autumn, anywhere from 25 to 200 of these sea turtles will fail to migrate back south due to the difficulty of navigating out of Cape Cod Bay, which has land on three sides except to the north.

For two decades the Mass Audubon Sanctuary at Wellfleet Bay has been rescuing these turtles on Cape Cod Bay and bringing them to the Aquarium for months long treatment and eventual release in warmer waters down south. (Here's a great video of a sea turtle release.) This partnership has resulted in the release of nearly one thousand of the world’s most endangered sea turtles in a population that numbers in just the low tens of thousands. This program has made a tangible difference in the recovery of the population of the world’s most endangered sea turtle.

Dedicated Mass Audubon volunteers and staff are walking Cape Cod beaches Thursday morning searching for sea turtles that may strand with the significant wave activity caused by the Nor’easter. More turtles are expected.

Additional sea turtle rescue reading
To get an idea of the work ahead during the cold-stun season, look back on the sea turtle posts from 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008. Learn how rescued sea turtles are treated with lasers. Check out these awesome pictures of a sea turtle release. Did you know other turtles take private airplanes to warmer climates? See how we make the turtles comfy while they're in rehab, how and what they eat and how they get their names.

Here is how local news covered the first cold-stun turtle arrivals this year:
The Patriot Ledger
WBZ Channel 4

The New England Aquarium Education Department hosted a climate change activity with two classrooms from across the U.S. using Google+ Hangouts on Air on November 7, 2012. Here's the video of that presentation.




 



About the Activity: Sink or Source
This activity helps explain the carbon cycle and the imbalance in the carbon cycle. A quick look at some of the largest carbon sources helps visitors understand that the imbalance is anthropogenic and leads to important discussions about actions we can take to reduce our carbon footprint. This activity is designed for adults, families, or kids ages 9 and older with their families. Some younger children have been engaged by this activity and can help with sorting. Get resources to do the activity in your own home or classroom.

 
The New England Aquarium and Climate Change Education
As public understanding of climate change lags behind the consensus among scientists, the National Science Foundation (NSF) since 2009 has been developing the Climate Change Education Partnership program to help the public better weigh the evidence of human-climate interactions. Late Wednesday, NSF announced the awards in its most recent round of funding and granted $5.5 million over five years to the National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation led by the New England Aquarium. Read more.

You can join in on future hangouts like this by connecting with Aquarium on Google+. 

RELATED: The Aquarium's climate change programming was recently featured in a New York Times article. Aquarium president Bud Ris is quoted in the piece saying, "We would like as many people, if not everyone, to leave encouraged to take action."

There are a lot of perks that come with membership at the New England Aquarium, like express admission all year and discounts at the Cafe and Gift Shop. Now you can add our new Member of the Week recognition to that list. How can members participate? Just show up and visit your Aquarium! We'll be randomly selecting members for this special honor throughout the fall. 

Meet Ann-Mara and Lara-Kate from Wellesley, our Members of the Week. They visited this week with Lara-Kate’s “best friend in the whole wide world,” Amelia, when the girls had no school due to a power outage. They originally became members many years ago because Ann-Mara’s son and Lara-Kate’s older brother, Nathan, “loves animals and fish.” In fact, his mother told us that he wants to become a marine biologist. In a year or two Nathan might want to become a live blue Ambassador or participate in one of the Aquarium’s many Teen Programs. 


For being our Members of the Week, they received a free 4”x6” photo from our friends at SharpShooter, a copy of Ice Island, by Dr. Greg Stone Ph.D., Aquarium Senior Vice President of Ocean Exploration and Conservation, and each of the girls took home a stuffed shark.

So what do you have to do to be our Member of the Week? Just visit! You could win on any day of the week, any time of day. We'll be announcing winners right here on the News Blog every Friday. So come on down and visit Myrtle in her new home in the penguin exhibit, check in with those boisterous sea lions, search for seadragons, see the little blue penguins in their temporary exhibit  and experience the Aquarium's exciting transformation first hand. Who knows, you could be our next Member of the Week! 

Predicting Climate in a Chaotic World: How Certain Can We Be?
The New England Aquarium was pleased to welcome the MIT Lorenz Center’s 2nd Annual John Carlson Lecture to the Simons IMAX Theatre on Thursday, November 1. The speaker was Professor Timothy Palmer of the Royal Society of Research. Here is video of the special event, with more background below.




Background
Understanding and predicting global climate change may be one of the most complex scientific challenges we face today. MIT’s School of Science recently launched the Lorenz Center, a new climate think tank devoted to fundamental inquiry. By emphasizing curiosity-driven research, the Center fosters creative approaches to learning how climate works.

This year’s lecturer, Timothy Palmer, discussed the key sources of uncertainty in making such predictions, how we estimate their impact and how we might reduce forecast uncertainties.

Edward Lorenz's pioneering work on systems with unpredictable and chaotic evolutions was motivated by skepticism about the use of statistical models to predict next month's weather. And yet, on the web and elsewhere, one can find predictions not only of next month's weather, but also of the human effect on long-term climate. Can we have any confidence at all in long-range predictions of weather? And should we believe these estimates of human-induced climate change, or is the whole notion of predicting long-term changes in climate misguided and unscientific?