CLEARWATER, Fla. — Dozens of critically endangered sea turtles caught in icy waters up North are now being treated in Florida.
A total of 52 critically endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtles were flown on a private jet to Florida from New England after they were cold-stunned. Of those, 16 are being treated at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. CMA veterinarians explained these turtles were in the icy waters of Cape Cod.
"As the water temperature drops, their body temperature drops, and so they get very cold. They almost go into a comatose-like state," Dr. Shelly Marquardt said.
As CMA's vice president of animal and environmental health, Dr. Marquardt is familiar with turtles in this condition as it happens every winter. She said 12 out of the 16 turtles they are treating have pneumonia. Two of the turtles are receiving care for eye ulcers.
"At this point, everyone’s doing very well and we will stay on top of that," she said.
While the turtles are cared for with love, Dr. Marquardt explained it's important to remember they are wild animals.
"When we feed them, we throw the food in and we step away. We don’t want them associating us with food or any acclamation to people," Dr. Marquardt explained.
Once the turtles are healthy, they will be released.
"So because they came from up North, we want them to be in the same body of water. So we’ll drive them over to the East Coast," Dr. Marquardt said.
Once the turtles recover and the weather is warm enough, they will be released just North of Cape Canaveral. From there, they should make their way back home to New England.
This is a group effort and the other critically endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtles are being cared for at other facilities in Florida. That includes Mote Marine Laboratory, the Florida Aquarium and the Loggerhead Marine Life Center.