Media Release — Dead Endangered Leatherback Found off of Woods Hole, Live Leatherback Freed from Entanglement in Truro by Center for Coastal Studies
On Sunday, New England Aquarium biologists and head veterinarian, Dr. Charles Innis, conducted a necropsy on an 813-pound leatherback sea turtle that was found floating Saturday about one mile south of Woods Hole. The necropsy results showed abrasions and tissue tearing on the left front flipper and around the neck that are consistent with entanglement with marine gear. The adult female, which was over 6 feet in length, also had a two foot section of marine rope in her mouth. She appeared to have been dead for at least two to three days. She also had tags that had probably been fastened on her when she had nested on an eastern Caribbean beach. That exact location should be learned Monday.
The necropsy results showed abrasions and tissue tearing on the left front flipper and around the neck
that are consistent with entanglement with marine gear. | Photo: New England Aquarium
On Saturday, while the dead leatherback on the southwestern corner of Cape Cod was being towed to land by a Massachusetts Environmental Police vessel, marine animal rescue experts from the Center for Coastal Studies were busy successfully disentangling a slightly smaller, live leatherback off the northeast side of the Cape in Pamet Harbor in Truro. Click here for more details.
Leatherback sea turtles migrate to New England each summer to feed on the abundant sea jellies found in offshore waters, but these endangered animals also often become entangled in the gauntlet of vertical lines that extend from surface buoys to boat moorings, lobster pots and other fixed fishing gear. In the plankton rich, darkened waters of the region, the leatherback’s enormous 2-3 foot front flippers can come into unexpected contact with a fixed line that then spins the animal, which often results in a wrap of rope around the flipper or the head. Being a reptile and an air-breather, the leatherback must occasionally reach the water’s surface to survive. These enormously strong swimmers can sometimes haul a huge amount of weight to the surface trying to survive. Unless discovered by boaters or blessed with enormous luck, these sea turtles eventually tire and drown.
On Saturday, the good and bad results of this all too common struggle were apparent on the same day on opposite sides of Cape Cod.
Both of these leatherbacks were at the tail end of the leatherback migration out of the Gulf of Maine, past the Cape and the Islands and down the eastern seaboard to tropical waters for the winter. With local ocean temperatures in the low to mid 50’s, leatherbacks are unique among sea turtles in that they are able to raise their body temperatures above the surrounding water temperatures and remain active.
The turtle autopsied by the Aquarium is just average sized for adults of this endangered species.
Photo: New England Aquarium
At over 800 pounds, the turtle autopsied by the Aquarium is just average sized for adults of this endangered species! Leatherbacks are the largest turtle and one of the largest reptiles in the world.
These giant, black, soft-shelled leatherbacks appear to be prehistoric, and that is because they are. They have survived the disappearance of the dinosaurs, cataclysmic climatic events and the Ice Age, but they may not survive the Anthropocene – the very short window that humans have dominated the Earth.
Further research on turtle sight and technical modifications to marine gear might help leatherback populations recover.
Keep reading to learn more about leatherback rescues by the New England Aquarium.
Every month our Volunteer Office sorts through piles of nominations from supervisors and honors one of our volunteers for their truly stupendous efforts. Meet our latest Volunteer of the Month!
The final Volunteer of the Month award for 2013 goes to the multi-talented Dave McLean of the Rescue and Rehab department!
Here’s what Adam Kennedy had to say about his contribution to the Aquarium community:
Dave has been an awesome addition to the rescue family since he started in November 2011. Dave always comes in with a smile and his energy and charismatic nature is contagious!
Dave transports a rescued turtle
He's always willing to lend a hand and is critical in helping out with the heavy lifting. One such occasion we required his muscle was with the 2012 live leatherback. Dave had heard about the leatherback incidentally and being from Quincy quickly came to the facility. Dave was extremely helpful to staff in maneuvering the turtle out of the IFAW vehicle and getting the turtle into the facility.
This large loggerhead was rescued from Cape Cod. Dave helped with its transport
Dave is certainly not afraid to get dirty. He never hesitates to help out with any task. Whether it is cleaning up our necropsy freezer after a malfunction or assist in cleaning up after we had a sewer back-up.
With Dave’s mechanical background he has helped us out tremendously with vehicle problems as well as life support pump issues. He is eager to learn new things and help impart his knowledge to new volunteers and interns.
Dave also looks out for his fellow volunteers. One of our volunteers just left to be a snow bird ☺ and Dave made sure we had a “going away” party for him. He will always be one of the first to bring in articles about the program that he sees in local papers, or make sure that we are up on the goings on in the turtle/ marine mammal world at large.
Dave has done so much here that I am positive I am missing all kinds of things. For that I would hope you consider Dave for Volunteer of the Month!
MEDIA RELEASE: Giant leatherback sea turtle rescued on Cape Cod September 11, 2013
An approximately 650-pound leatherback sea turtle that stranded at low tide in an isolated area of Sandy Neck Beach Park in Barnstable Wednesday morning was treated medically and released back into a rising tide in the early afternoon. New England Aquarium staff are optimistic about her prognosis, but they are seeking the public’s help should boaters or beach walkers re-sight the five foot long, black, soft-shelled sea turtle as she is swimming in Cape Cod Bay or near land.
Leatherback sea turtle that stranded on Cape Cod Wednesday, Sept. 11 | Photo: Mass Audubon/ Ron Kielb
The turtle was discovered high and dry by Sandy Neck staff in the mid-morning. Rangers called the Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary at Wellfleet Bay, which acts as first responders for sea turtle strandings on Cape Cod. They in turn called the New England Aquarium for medical support from their rescue biologists and veterinarian. Given the isolated location, rescuers were ferried to the site by Barnstable harbormaster and a Good Samaritan private boater.
With near record heat and an exposed marine reptile in the baking sun, rescuers covered the turtle with wet sheets to keep the animal cooler. They also moved her on to a dolphin stretcher to lift her, if necessary, and also to help contain the restless creature while they treated her. They found tags on the flippers of the adult female indicating that she had previously nested on a beach in Trinidad. That large island off the northeastern coast of South America is one of the principal egg laying sites for this highly endangered species.
For the Aquarium medical staff, they needed to make a crucial and time sensitive evaluation as to how sick was the turtle and why it might have stranded. Both Sandy Neck and Mass Audubon staff knew that once into this tidal backwater, many marine animals become confused. For a leatherback feeding on sea jellies, that would be even more likely as this species of sea turtle is generally in the open ocean and is less familiar with the fluctuations of tides.
For Connie Merigo, head of the Aquarium’s marine animal rescue team, she needed to determine was this a reasonably healthy animal that accidentally stranded in an unfamiliar habitat or a sick turtle that was debilitated and had essentially washed ashore. A moderately healthy animal could be released on the incoming tide while an ill turtle could be transported to the Aquarium’s Animal Care Center in Quincy.
The leatherback was put on a dolphin stretcher and moved to deeper water when the tides came in Photo: Mass Audubon/ Ron Kielb
At about 650 pounds, the leatherback was slightly underweight and not as fat as biologists would expect at this late point of the summer feeding season. The Aquarium’s rescue biologists took vital signs and drew blood. They entered a sample into a portable blood analyzer. Head veterinarian and noted turtle specialist Dr. Charles Innis looked at the results. To his slight surprise, the sea turtle’s blood values were within normal range. This turtle’s best chance at survival was to be released but with a little medical boost to help combat stress of the stranding and other existing minor medical maladies. Dr. Innis gave the turtle a long-lasting anti-biotic, anti-inflammatory and vitamin complement.
As the tide slowly rose and made the massive turtle more buoyant, about ten Barnstable, Mass Audubon and Aquarium staff grabbed the handles of the nylon stretcher and moved her out to deeper water. On command, one side of the stretcher was dropped, water flooded in and the turtle swam out into deeper water. She took a breath and dove – always a good sign. A couple of staff sighted her further down the inlet. A nervous elation percolated through the rescuers – excited, proud but still concerned that this important animal survive so that it might one day this winter lay eggs on a beach in Trinidad.
Leatherback sea turtle rescued and released back into the wild in 2012
The successful treatment and release of live leatherback sea turtles is an extremely rare event. Live strandings of this ocean-going turtle are very uncommon, but also little was known of their physiology and how to treat them since they have never been successfully kept in an aquarium anywhere. A few years ago, Cara Dodge, a former federal sea turtle official, enrolled Innis and Merigo in a field research study to temporarily live capture leatherbacks at sea, take samples and build more knowledge of their physiology.
Strangely enough, once published last summer, that information has been used twice to save live stranded leatherbacks. Last September, another leatherback of the same size stranded in Truro but was near death. After spending 48 hours in treatment with the Aquarium, the turtle was equipped with a satellite tag, released and successfully migrated down the East Coast. Learn more about the Aquarium rescue team's past interactions with endangered leatherback sea turtles:
A stranded, giant sea turtle that was treated and released by the New England Aquarium last Saturday appears to be doing well and is migrating south. (For more pictures, video and information about the rescue and release, click here, here and here.) As of Thursday, it was about 120 miles south of Nantucket on the edge of the continental shelf and due east of northern New Jersey. The endangered, thin, 655 pound leatherback sea turtle was released from a lobster boat Saturday about two miles south of Harwichport on Cape Cod with a tracking satellite tag.
Transmissions show that the 7 foot, soft-shelled black sea turtle on Sunday swam to the east coast of near-by Nantucket. The big male then spent the early part of the week in the waters just south of Nantucket which is in an area that often attracts leatherbacks in the summer to feed on abundant sea jellies (jellyfish). The turtle has since swum in a primarily southerly direction.
Turtle researchers are pleased with the animal’s progress but remain guardedly optimistic as this animal was near death when rescued. Due to recent field research on live leatherbacks conducted by UNH’s Kara Dodge and the Aquarium’s head veterinarian Dr. Charles Innis and rescue team leader Connie Merigo, the turtle was treated with a suite of medications and nutritional supplements that led to a quick recovery to a stable medical condition in less than 48 hours. However, given the turtle’s enormous size and the demands of handling and caring for it, the medical team decided that releasing the turtle was its best chance to survive. Before its release, the turtle was given a long term dosage of medicine and supplements that would aid in its recovery for about a week. The goal of that strategy was to give the animal more time to recover and be able to forage on its own and regain its strength.
The early satellite tracking data is encouraging.
This rescue is very significant as leatherbacks rarely strand alive. Of those, the vast majority have died quickly once in rehab. This might be just the third successful treatment and release of a leatherback anywhere. This is the first time that a released leatherback has been outfitted with a satellite tag that will hopefully reveal its travels for possibly up to three months.
Leatherbacks are swimming marine dinosaurs. They are largest of the sea turtles and commonly weigh in excess of 1000 pounds. They are endangered throughout tropical and temperate waters around the world and might become extinct in the Pacific in the next 30 years. Leatherbacks migrate into New England waters in the early summer to feed on sea jellies and return south in the autumn.
For more about the animals rescue and rehabilitation at the Aquarium Animal Care Center click here.
See video of the animal's transport and release here.
Learn more about the incredible significance of this rescue, straight from the Rescue Team, here.
The treatment and release of this giant leatherback sea turtle is among the first worldwide. Learn about the start of this rescue and rehabilitation operation here.
A 7-foot, 655-pound leatherback sea turtle that had stranded near the tip of Cape Cod on Thursday and was then transported to a New England Aquarium facility for treatment has been released in the waters south of Cape Cod in improved but very guarded condition. The black, soft-shelled giant was outfitted with a satellite tag to monitor its movement and hopeful survival.
Get a feel for the size of the animal and the release day with this video.
(McConnell Productions)
The turtle came in near death but was released late Saturday morning from the back of a fishing boat, a couple of miles off of Harwichport. The massive male was in much more stable condition due to treatment with a suite of medications that helped stabilize several of his blood values including glucose and oxygen levels which were very low. This treatment was made possible by recent field research conducted on briefly captured, live leatherbacks that helped biologists and veterinarians learn what normal blood values are in this ancient, ocean-going marine reptile.
Unlike other sea turtle species, leatherbacks have never been displayed in aquariums given their massive size, their constant swimming into tank walls and their exclusive diet of sea jellies (jellyfish). These endangered giants rarely strand alive and have usually survived for just a couple of days in an aquarium setting. Although this leatherback was not in ideal condition, Aquarium officials decided that the animal’s best chance of survival was back in the sea with its blood values stabilized and energy restored.
Head veterinarian Dr. Charles Innis and rescue director Connie Merigo, who together have overseen the rehabilitation of nearly a thousand sea turtles of smaller species, had worked with University of New Hampshire sea turtle researcher Kara Dodge over the past several summers capturing 400 to 1000 pound plus leatherbacks swimming off the Cape and Islands. The brief captures on to the back of a fishing boat allowed the scientists to do physical exams and collect tissue samples on healthy animals that are not available anywhere else. Little did they realize that they would use that information so soon.
Dr. Charles Innis (left) was one of many people who hefted the 655-pound turtle
This unusual rescue story began Wednesday evening when the turtle was first spotted stranded in Pamet Harbor in Truro near the tip of Cape Cod. Due to darkness and an incoming tide, rescue efforts were postponed.
Early Thursday morning, the staff of the Mass Audubon Sanctuary at Wellfleet Bay re-located the turtle a few hundred yards from the nearest road access. With the assistance of a dolphin stranding transport cart from the Cape Cod-based International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Mass Audubon and IFAW staff with local volunteers moved the one third ton reptile to a an IFAW vehicle. Thursday morning, Aquarium biologists met the rescuers on the Cape and took over care of the skinny, male turtle as they transported to the Aquarium’s new Marine Animal Care Center in the former Quincy Shipyard.
The turtle stranded in Truro, Mass.
There, he was evaluated by the Aquarium’s veterinarians. The lethargic, seven foot long turtle at 655 pounds was actually underweight although not emaciated. Leatherback sea turtles are among the world’s largest reptiles, and adults commonly weigh in excess of 1000 pounds. Rescue staff drew blood to evaluate the animal’s health and started administering drugs to treat it for dehydration, trauma and shock.
Leatherbacks are open ocean sea turtles that migrate thousands of miles and consequently have enormous front flippers to pull their giant bodies through the water. Aquarium medical staff immediately noticed the turtle’s unfortunately distinctive left front flipper that was about a foot and a half shorter than the three foot long right one. About 40% of that paddle was gone due to some kind of recent trauma. Most of the wound had healed over, but Dr. Innis felt that the injury had probably occurred this season.
Sea turtles often lose parts of flippers to sharks or other large predatory fish and can still survive. However, the line of the avulsed tissue on the flipper was very straight. That led some Aquarium staff to wonder if the trauma might have occurred from a flipper entanglement in a vertical line in the water such as to a lobster pot or a boat mooring. Such entanglements are unfortunately quite common and along with recreational boat strikes are the two leading sources of death for this endangered species in New England waters. Officials are still counting and double checking reports but fear that more than twenty of the endangered leatherbacks have died in the region this summer.
Leatherbacks migrate up the East Coast each June to feed on abundant sea jellies (jellyfish) in Massachusetts waters, particularly around the Cape and the Islands. They will migrate south for the winter in September and October.
The turtle was kept from bumping the sides of the tank with a special harness maned by two people at all times.
After its intake exam, Aquarium staff wrapped a large, Velcro harness around the turtle before placing it in a large tank. The harness was attached to a rope which was always handled by one or two people with the mandate of keeping the turtle from swimming into one of the tank walls. Being entirely ocean going, leatherbacks never encounter barriers in the sea that they cannot swim around. The harness was designed by New England Aquarium staff as a technique to avoid further injury to the turtle.
Aquarium biologists, veterinarians and volunteers worked overnight Thursday and Friday constantly monitoring the giant turtle. The turtle steadily regained its strength and increased its activity level. The decision was made to release him.
In the pre-dawn hours of Saturday, a couple of dozen people moved about the cavernous, high tech space of the Aquarium’s sea turtle rescue facility. A forklift fired up, and two staff in dry suits entered the tank with the turtle. They directed the turtle to swim into a heavy tarp hanging from the forks. After some adjusting, the 655 pounder was lifted out of the pool and slowly backed out of the building where it was loaded into a marine animal transport trailer provided by IFAW.
A small caravan of vehicles followed the trailer to Harwichport. There, the loading process was reversed. While loading, the turtle was outfitted with satellite tracking tag that was attached to its shell. The expensive electronic device was provided by the Riverhead Foundation of Long Island which drove it up on short notice. The turtle was settled on to the back deck of the lobster boat, Sea Holly, which is owned and captained by Mark Leach. As the Sea Holly left port, about twenty on-lookers spontaneously cheered.
Ten staff took their positions reviewing the detailed plans for several different scenarios. The monstrous, seven foot turtle quietly clambered about the stern deck. That activity level was a good sign. Once sufficiently off-shore, the stern rail was opened, and the big male pulled forward with his huge front flippers and dropped a foot into the water. He dove deep right away and did not re-surface within sight of the boat. That is normal behavior for healthy leatherbacks that had been handled during the research field work. A couple of early hits came in off of his satellite tag indicating that he was moving.
The prognosis remains unclear, but this individual sea turtle has been afforded another chance at survival in an endangered species that is staring down extinction.
A 7-foot endangered ocean-going sea turtle, which rarely strands alive, is clinging to life at the New England Aquarium’s Marine Animal Care Center in Quincy, MA. The seven foot long, 655 pound leatherback sea turtle was found just as darkness fell Wednesday night on a mud flat in Pamet Harbor in Truro, MA, near the tip of Cape Cod.
Staff from the Mass Audubon Sanctuary at Wellfleet Bay located and identified the huge, black, sea-going turtle as daylight faded. Given the remote location, darkness and an incoming tide, rescue efforts were postponed until the morning. Mass Audubon then contacted the New England Aquarium’s Marine Animal Rescue Team, which rehabilitates hundreds of sea turtles each year. However, live leatherback stranding are extremely rare with the Aquarium only handling five leatherbacks on Massachusetts beaches in more than 40 years.
Early Thursday morning, Mass Audubon staff re-located the turtle a few hundred yards from the nearest road access. With the assistance of a dolphin stranding transport cart from the Cape Cod-based International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Mass Audubon and IFAW staff with local volunteers moved the one third ton reptile to an IFAW vehicle. Thursday morning, Aquarium biologists met the rescuers on the Cape and took over care of the skinny, male turtle as they transported to the Aquarium’s new Marine Animal Care Center in the former Quincy Shipyard.
There, he was evaluated by the Aquarium’s veterinarians including Dr. Charles Innis, who is one of the leading authorities on the medical care of turtles. The lethargic, seven foot long turtle at 655 pounds is actually underweight, although not emaciated. Leatherback sea turtles are among the world’s largest reptiles, and adults commonly weigh in excess of 1000 pounds. Rescue staff drew blood to evaluate the animal’s health and started administering drugs to treat it for dehydration, trauma and shock.
Leatherbacks are open ocean sea turtles that migrate thousands of miles and consequently have enormous front flippers to pull their giant bodies through the water. Aquarium medical staff immediately noticed the turtle’s unfortunately distinctive left front flipper that was about a foot and a half shorter than the three foot long right one. About 40 percent of that paddle was gone due to some kind of recent trauma. Most of the wound had healed over, but Dr. Innis felt that the injury had probably occurred this season.
Sea turtles often lose parts of flippers to sharks or other large predatory fish and can still survive. However, the line of the avulsed tissue on the flipper was very straight. That led some Aquarium staff to wonder if the trauma might have occurred from a flipper entanglement in a vertical line in the water such as to a lobster pot or a boat mooring. Such entanglements are unfortunately quite common and along with recreational boat strikes are the two leading sources of death for this endangered species in New England waters. Officials are still counting and double checking reports but fear that more than twenty of the endangered leatherbacks have died in the region this summer.
Leatherbacks migrate up the East Coast each June to feed on abundant sea jellies (jellyfish) in Massachusetts waters, particularly around the Cape and the Islands. They will migrate south for the winter in September and October.
After its intake exam, Aquarium staff wrapped a large, Velcro harness around the turtle before placing it in a large tank. The harness was attached to a rope which was always handled by a person with the mandate of keeping the turtle from swimming into one of the tank walls. Being entirely ocean going, leatherbacks never encounter barriers in the sea that they cannot swim around. The harness was designed by New England Aquarium staff as a technique to avoid further injury to the turtle.
Aquarium biologists and veterinarians are working overnight and constantly monitoring the giant turtle in the hopes of trying to save it but are also hoping to learn more about leatherbacks first hand in this very, very rare opportunity. The animal’s prognosis is poor as in order to strand, it had to become critically ill. However, the New England Aquarium’s rescue and veterinary staff are among the most skilled and experienced in the world at rehabilitating sea turtles.
Marine Animal Rescue Team biologists examine a stranded leatherback turtle on a Cape Cod beach.
DENNIS AND QUINCY, MA—A 400-pound, endangered leatherback sea turtle died of complications from severe entanglement wounds at the New England Aquarium’s Animal Care Center in Quincy Sunday. It had been rescued from Crow’s Pasture Beach in Dennis late Saturday afternoon. The sub-adult female was found on Cape Cod beach minimally responsive. The sea turtle had severe, deep, rotting wounds at the base of each of its front flippers. These are the type of injuries commonly found when sea turtles get one of their large, paddle-like flippers caught around a vertical line in the water. Such ropes are most commonly from boat mooring lines or fixed fishing gear like lobster pots. This turtle had either freed itself or was cut out of the entanglement by a person. Unfortunately, such entanglements happen every year in the waters around Cape Cod, which abuts a major seasonal migratory route for these black, soft-shelled giants.
The New England Aquarium’s Marine Animal Rescue Team responded mid-afternoon on Saturday. They were greeted by Dennis Murley of the Massachusetts Audubon Sanctuary at Wellfleet Bay. Mass Audubon provides first responder services for stranded sea turtles on the Cape. Aquarium rescue biologists and veterinarians found the animal still alive but barely breathing on its own. The animal was thin, not reactive to people and had terrible, large flipper wounds that had dying tissue on them and were probably at least a couple of weeks old. Aquarium staff administered emergency medications and fluids. With the aid of volunteers, the town of Dennis’s natural resources and animal control staff, and biologists from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the 400-pound turtle was carried through the loose sand by 14 people to the Aquarium’s emergency vehicle.
The leatherback is examined at the Aquarium's Animal Care Center in Quincy.
It was then transported to the Aquarium’s new off-site holding and treatment facility in the Quincy Shipyard. Aquarium staff continued intensive treatment, and chief veterinarian Dr. Charles Innis and senior biologist Kerry McNally attended to the leatherback overnight.
Rescue team members give the leatherback turtle hydrotherapy.
In the early morning, the animal’s already poor vital signs deteriorated, and she passed away relatively quickly. A necropsy later on Sunday revealed abnormality in her organs. Whether this was a result of the infections in her severe wounds was not known. Tissue samples were taken for further pathology testing.
Leatherback sea turtles are the world’s largest turtle and the largest reptile by weight. This animal at 400 pounds was not yet reproductively active. Adult leatherbacks in Massachusetts waters commonly weigh 600 to 1,000 pounds. They are seasonal visitors here arriving during the summer and early autumn to feed exclusively on sea jellies. They commonly migrate up the East Coast in late June and pass between southern Cape Cod and the Islands. The autumn migration normally begins later in September, although turtles that had traveled deep into Gulf of Maine waters do pass by southward later in the autumn.
