Wellfleet Bay Natural History Notes

2009 Third Largest Sea Turtle Stranding Season

We’ve seen quite a precipitous drop in numbers during the past week of turtle strandings; it’s starting to look like the end of the season has arrived. Only two turtles were found since our last update on December 17th. The first was a Kemp’s Ridley found on December 19th from Point of Rocks in Brewster and the second a Loggerhead found on December 23rd from Ellis Landing in Brewster. Neither turtle was alive when discovered.  As the temperatures have dropped dramatically in the past weeks, the survival rate for recovered turtles has begun to decrease. Our last living turtle was a Green recovered on December 17th from Point of Rocks beach in Brewster.

Our total for the season is 192 turtles: 
• 178 Kemp’s Ridley
• 8 Green
• 4 Loggerhead
• 2 unidentified.
This puts us right behind 2002 as the 3rd biggest stranding season:  1999 produced the most cold-stunned sea turtles with 278, 2002 was the second biggest season with 201, and 1995 was the fourth with 178 sea turtles.

To follow up on the turtles that were rescued, the New England Aquarium Medical Center has a Turtle Rescue Blog that discusses the treatments that our turtles have received.

I’d like to say a big thank you to all of the volunteers who walked beaches and drove turtles to the New England Aquarium this year.  We appreciate all your hard work, and we couldn’t have done it without you! Anyone who might be interested in volunteering next season, please contact Cynthia Franklin, the Volunteer Coordinator here at Wellfleet Bay.

Michelle Stantial

Welcome Mat Out for Stranded Sea Turtles

On December 6, 2009 the 87th cold-stunned sea turtle came through the doors of the Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and, without blinking, surpassed the number of stranded sea turtles from 2008. As of December 9, 2009 a total of 121 cold-stunned sea turtles have been recovered from the beaches of Cape Cod Bay, two from Buzzards Bay, and even two from Martha’s Vineyard. 

 

 

The stranding season had quite a slow start, not really kicking off until Thanksgiving weekend; only 9 turtles had been recovered before the holiday. The two busiest days of the season were December 6th and December 7th, each producing 19 turtles to be rescued. The vast majority of these stranded turtles have been Kemp’s Ridleys totaling 112, but we’ve seen 6 Green Sea Turtles, 1 Loggerhead, and 2 were unidentified. With the high winds, high wave energy, and colder temperatures over the past couple of days, we’re expecting another big round of turtle strandings to begin on Thursday morning!

Ed. Note: Bob says this is already the third busiest stranding season ever. He expects 30 or 40 more by the end of this weekend. Want to help? Contact volunteer coordinator Cynthia Franklin.

Michelle Stantial
 

Oyster Reef Restoration in Wellfleet Bay

Rachel S. Smith is a professional video editor/producer who works out of Boston and the Cape. We are indebted to her for this informative video.

You'll enjoy hearing Bob talk about this important restoration project and seeing the scenes of Lieutenant Island.

The Oyster Reef Restoration Project in Wellfleet Harbor from rachel s. smith on Vimeo.

Thanks for this wonderful contribution to the restoration effort, Rachel!

Mary Lou Roberts