Cape Cod Sea Turtle Lucky Cleared for 18 August Release With Tracker
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Aug 15
Cape Cod Sea Turtle Lucky Cleared for 18 August Release With Tracker
2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Aug 15
Summary
11 August brought medical clearance for Lucky, a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle rescued from Cape Cod last winter and now scheduled for release on 18 August with a tracking tag.
473 turtles were found cold-stunned on Cape Cod beaches last November and December, and Lucky spent months in rehabilitation after arriving hypothermic, developing severe pneumonia and needing surgery on an infected left-flipper joint.
About 85% of turtles brought in alive survive, helped by a rescue chain that moves some 30 animals a day in banana boxes from beach patrols to the New England Aquarium and then to partner rehab centers.
Annual strandings have climbed from about 50 in the early 2000s to nearly 500, with scientists linking the surge partly to warming Gulf of Maine waters that draw more young turtles into Cape Cod’s geographic trap.