by Heather Stapleton, ELC Education Coordinator
1-18-10
Sea turtles in the Indian River Lagoon have been cold stunned due to prolonged exposure to abnormally low and persistent temperatures. A cold stunning event of this severity has not occurred in the Indian River Lagoon since the winter of 1894-1895. Current estimates say that about 2,000 turtles (mostly Greens, a few Loggerheads) have been affected and rescued.
ELC Education Coordinator, Heather Stapleton, coordinating the ELC's sea turtle rescue mission
ELC has been part of the rescue effort in Indian River County. As of the morning of January 14th, 91 sea turtles have come to the ELC. A few have gone to rehab facilities and several have already been released.
Many people are asking us if it is worth the effort. Why not let nature takes its course?
- All sea turtles are endangered or threatened species - primarily due to actions of humans (beach development, longline fishing, previous shrimp netting).
- Many have a virus called fibropapilloma. The rampant spread of this virus is also due primarily to the actions of man (degraded water quality and degraded habitat have led to compromised immune systems).
- When sea turtles get cold stunned, they float to the surface and usually cannot move, so they are more likely to be struck by motorboats (another human impact).
So, now we can do something good. This is our chance to:
- tag all of the animals (so we can learn more about where they go, life cycle etc)
- get DNA samples from all of these turtles
- treat ones with serious injuries
- treat the ones with the papilloma virus
The ELC has appreciated this opportunity to continue to be good stewards of our environment and help inform the public.
ELC volunteer, Jan Garrison, records information on the sea turtles
Thanks so much to all of the volunteers who have helped us help the turtles and to the local business that donated or discounted materials for the rescue effort.