Happy Swimming

They hadn't been on the beach since last fall, and that trip was lousy because at the time everyone was very sick. But in only a few minutes, the group of 14, now robust, sea turtles smelled the salt and forgave everything.

Noses up, they pulled themselves the few yards from the rack line on Cape Cod's Dowses Beach into the surf. Five of the turtles were fitted with tags that will allow their location to be tracked by satellite for as long as the tags remain operational, usually about one year.

The turtles are from populations listed as endangered or threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. Thirteen released were Kemp's ridleys, and one was a loggerhead. Volunteers initially rescued them October and December 2005.

Late each fall, juvenile sea turtles feed in Cape Cod Bay. Turtles are cold-blooded, so their bodies assume the temperature of the water around them. If there is a sudden weather or oceanographic event that quickly lowers water temperature, or if they fail to migrate south in a timely way, these turtles become hypothermic and many strand on the bay side of Cape Cod.

After rescue, the turtles are slowly warmed and treated for complications of hypothermia, including pneumonia and bone and joint problems.

The turtles were kept in care until now to ensure that the waters off Cape Cod were warm enough for them to be returned.

--LiveScience Staff

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Credit: NOAA