We love turtles. And, occasionally, they love us. For that very reason, it is difficult to hear that one of the best natural-born surfers out there — even newborns ride strong ocean currents to get to deeper, and safer, waters — are not doing well. According to National Geographic, “six of the world’s seven sea turtle species are classified as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered.” The seventh? There simply isn’t enough data, which isn’t the most optimistic of signs. But that doesn’t mean they’re without hope. Of the thousands that suffer injuries or worse along the U.S. coast every year, a handful catch a lucky break and find themselves at rehabilitation facilities. Yep, rehabilitation facilities for sea turtles. Awesome.
The smile-inducing report goes on to outline the long and expensive process. An animal rescue program at National Aquarium in Baltimore, Maryland, houses the sea turtles for minimum of three months, if not longer, and each costs upwards of tens of thousands of dollars. The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in North Carolina releases anywhere between 40 and 75 sea turtles a year, and this number is only increasing.
But as the “canaries of the sea,” their well-being is important. In addition to the well-documented issues of human fishing gear, there are the threats of boat strikes, consumption of discarded plastics (more than 40 percent of dead sea turtles washed ashore in Florida have plastic in their guts), and cold stunning. What is cold stunning? Think their version of our hypothermia.
