Coastal regions in Atlantic Canada are gearing up for beach patrols set to commence this month aimed at locating and rescuing endangered sea turtles that may be at risk of getting stranded in the colder fall waters.
The Canadian Sea Turtle Network launched this initiative in 2016 after noticing an influx of smaller, cold-sensitive sea turtles washing ashore along the Bay of Fundy coastline spanning Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Executive director of the network headquartered in Halifax, N.S., Kathleen Martin, highlighted the need for increased vigilance as ocean temperatures rise, potentially leading various turtle species to migrate further northward. Volunteers are crucial in monitoring coastlines across Atlantic Canada for these creatures.
Martin emphasized that a sea turtle’s body temperature is regulated by the surrounding water, and if it becomes too cold, they risk becoming “cold-stunned” due to hypothermia, muscle stiffness, and loss of swimming ability. It is vital not to return stranded turtles to the water as the frigid conditions could be fatal.
She stressed the importance of promptly rescuing these turtles for rehabilitation in warmer waters, stating, “If they aren’t found soon enough, they will die. And so we then want to be able to collect those animals and learn from the animals that we’ve lost as well.”
Scanning for Stranded Turtles
Volunteers are urged to conduct weekly beach walks or shoreline checks to search for stranded turtles, as outlined by the charitable organization. Maria Lisa Polegatto from Sydney actively participates in these searches at Belfry Beach in Cape Breton, suggesting that volunteers seek guidance from the network upon finding a turtle.
She advised, “Basically you would walk the shoreline and keep an eye out for anything that looks unusual, or even the small ones might be tangled in some of the seaweed by the time they get washed in. So you’re almost looking for things that might look like rocks.”
Recruiting Volunteers
The network is also enlisting volunteers to assist in tracking the locations and numbers of sea turtles arriving in Atlantic Canada, with a specific focus on coastal communities in the region, according to Martin.
She shared an anecdote, “We actually had turtles in the Magdalen Islands. We had a small Kemp’s ridley turtle that washed up there surprisingly in the winter last year. We would not have expected to find a hard-shell sea turtle there that far into the Gulf of St. Lawrence.”
