After 81 days in Atlantic Marine Conservation Society's (AMSEAS) critical care facility, 11 critically endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles are getting a second chance at life. On Friday, February 26, 2021, the rehabilitated sea turtles will be transported to Gabreski Airport by AMSEAS biologists for a flight, coordinated by Turtles Fly Too, to Canaveral National Seashore in Florida where they will be released back into the ocean.

AMSEAS Biologist Sammi Chaves prepares a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle for transport

AMSEAS was formed in the fall of 2016 to help our stranding network partners and is authorized to respond to both live and dead marine mammals and sea turtles in New York. While all are familiar with the challenges 2020 presented with COVID-19, few are aware of the difficulties encountered by marine mammal and sea turtle responders. The 2020 season continued to see an increase in the number of large whale strandings, large whale disentanglements, and cold stunned (hypothermic) sea turtles. In the fall of 2020, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries requested that AMSEAS spin up a critical care triage facility to take in cold stunned sea turtles that had stranded in Massachusetts. Due to the constraints of COVID-19 and one of the busiest cold stun events in history along the shores of Massachusetts, the state's stranding organizations quickly assessed the need to move animals to other care facilities. Many of the sea turtles that were being transferred were on the beach for two or three days before they were flown out to other facilities, thereby still in much need of critical care and support.

AMSEAS founder and chief scientist Rob DiGiovanni said, "Even though we have responded to over 800 animals in the last four years, our ability to rehabilitate and release these 11 endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles is the essence of why we formed Atlantic Marine Conservation Society to be able to help during a crisis."

On Tuesday, December 8, 2020, AMSEAS admitted 20 cold stunned Kemp’s ridley sea turtles to triage in their Westhampton Beach critical care facility. The sea turtles arrived from the New England Aquarium on a flight coordinated by Turtles Fly Too, landing at Gabreski Airport. AMSEAS’ efforts are part of the Specially Trained Animal Response Team (START) to help provide support to other organizations within the network.

The team at AMSEAS was able to provide care to these exceptionally critical patients in a very short period of time, actualizing their goal of being able to quickly spin up a critical care facility to meet a crucial need for support. The organization is one of many network partners that helped to provide temporary care and give these sea turtles a second chance.

All of the turtles that were received at the AMSEAS facility were found on the beaches around the Cape Cod shoreline and transferred to the Westhampton Beach facility within five days. After receiving care these animals made significant improvements in their health and were deemed ready to be released. AMSEAS is working with NOAA Fisheries, Turtles Fly Too, the Kennedy Space Center, and Canaveral National Seashore to transfer 11 of these animals to Florida for the next phase of their lives. There are an additional four animals that are still in AMSEAS' care, which they are hoping to clear for release as soon as possible.

NOAA Fisheries Stranding and Disentanglement Coordinator Kate Sampson said, "We are happy that AMSEAS was able to bring their critical care facility online to assist the network during its response to the largest live sea turtle cold stun event in our region's history. It is exciting to have the first sea turtles rehabilitated at AMSEAS heading back out into the wild at Canaveral National Seashore this week. These large-scale events require wide-reaching collaboration, and we are thankful to AMSEAS for their invaluable participation.”

AMSEAS is grateful for all its supporters, friends, and partners that helped make it possible to spin up and help during a very trying time with donations, supplies, resources, and support. The collaborative push to pool local resources and support network partners shines a light on the fact that even when times are difficult for everybody, people still want to help these endangered animals and protect wildlife.

“It's an honor to be able to be part of a network that can help come together during critical times to respond; working with all our network partners up and down the coast is one of our primary objectives at Atlantic Marine Conservation Society,” said DiGiovanni. "We're glad that AMSEAS could be there when the phone rang. Because of the support of all our donors, volunteers, staff, and partners, we were able to answer the call."

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AMSEAS Rehabilitated Sea Turtles Headed for Release