If it seems like almost every story coming out of our hospital these days is about cold stunned turtles it’s because the story at the hospital these days is cold stun turtles. How many turtles? Right now we have over one-hundred (103 and probably climbing) patients in house and about ninety percent of them are recent victims of the cold weather. And if you’re wondering where we put them all the answer is pretty...
Even though we’ve recently been appreciating those daytime temps in the 70’s cold stun season is definitely here. Right before Christmas we admitted 22 turtles found on North Carolina beaches - one good-sized loggerhead and 21 small greens. They were in pretty rough shape, sometimes more barnacle, mud and algae than turtle. Last week, two more were brought in. For years we’ve emphasized that our...
As the weather and the waters turn chilly, the doors of the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital close to visitors – that’s human visitors, specifically. However, the hospital doors swing wide to accept new patients. And it’s time for an influx of cold stunned turtles. These poor little creatures get caught in chilly waters and it distresses their systems. Sea turtles, as in all reptiles, rely...
How about a “honey” of a story for Christmas week, and no cold stuns were harmed in this one. Back in June the fishing was good and the turtles were taking advantage of the easy pickings along the inshore waters. Regular readers know by now that it always seems to be the Kemp’s Ridleys who get themselves in trouble by eating anything dangling in front of them. This little critter was no exception....
He’s here – our first local cold stun of this season. And as usual it’s a little green who didn’t get the memo that he should have started heading out of Dodge and into warmer waters. On Nov. 14, the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation received a call from some very alert folks in Surf City who noticed a little turtle struggling in the canal on 9th Street. We’ve been passing...
