‘Cold-Stunned’ Sea Turtles Sheltered At N.J.’s Turtle Back Zoo

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — New Jersey's only long-term sea turtle rehabilitation center recently provided a home to its first group of injured ocean animals.

On Wednesday night, the Sea Turtle Recovery center at the Essex County Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange took in 10 Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles from their previous home at the New England Aquarium in Massachusetts, a state that has rescued almost 450 “cold-stunned” turtles so far this season, according to the nonprofit.

But what is “cold-stunning,” and why are Massachusetts turtles ending up in the Garden State?

Sea Turtle Recovery explained that water temperatures rapidly drop this time of year in the Northeast from Virginia to Maine, especially in Cape Cod and Long Island. When temperatures drop too low, turtles can get stunned by the cold, a reaction that can lead to frostbite, malnutrition, dehydration, shock, pneumonia and possibly death.

Kemp’s Ridley, Loggerhead and Green Sea Turtles are especially susceptible to cold stunning if they don’t head south by the time water temperatures drop, the nonprofit stated.

As biologists and rescue groups in the Northeast struggle with an average of 570 cold-stunned turtles every winter, their overcrowded facilities need a way to avoid transporting injured animals all the way to the southern U.S. for the initial stages of their recovery care.

Hence the need for a sea turtle recovery center in New Jersey, the nonprofit says.

“For over six years I helped transport sea turtles that needed surgery or long term treatments as far as North Carolina to receive care,” Sea Turtle Recovery Co-Executive Officer Brandi Biehl said. “Now, thanks to support from Essex County and the public, we can treat sea turtles right here in the state and provide assistance to other facilities in the Northeast that become overcrowded.”

County officials first announced plans to construct a $2 million turtle recovery center at the Turtle Back Zoo in June.

• See related article: $2M Sea Turtle Recovery Center Planned For Turtle Back Zoo In NJ

Within months, an antiquated building at the zoo was replaced with a 4,000-square-foot facility housing five recovery tanks, life support systems and an intensive care unit for more critically injured turtles, the nonprofit stated.

• See related article: WATCH: Turtle Back Zoo Preps For Injured Sea Turtles’ Arrival In N.J.

According to Sea Turtle Recovery, the new facility is the result of a collaboration between their group, NOAA Fisheries, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the zoo.

“Sea Turtle Recovery will provide valuable rehabilitation space to accommodate an increasing trend in cold-stunned sea turtle strandings in our region, from Maine to Virginia,” Kate Sampson of NOAA Fisheries said. “An increase in rehabilitation capacity in our region means fewer turtles will have to be transported to the southeast region during the initial, critical stages of their medical care.”

“The new partnership with Sea Turtle Recovery will enable Turtle Back Zoo to enhance its mission of promoting conservation and preservation, while also creating an additional space to nurture and assist the zoo’s namesake animals,” Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said.

According to Sea Turtle Recovery, more than 700 live sea turtles washed ashore in the Northeast in 2014. Only six years ago, the five-year average (2006-2010) was 152 cold-stunned sea turtles. All five species of sea turtles found in the Atlantic Ocean are threatened or endangered due to fishing line entanglement, plastic ingestion, boat strikes, and are losing natural nesting and feeding sites because of coastal development.

Photos: Sea Turtle Recovery

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