The desperate race to save sea turtles from climate change

BREWSTER, Mas.. — A merciless upwind cuts crossed the beaches of Cape Cod. The gusts are truthful beardown it was hard to basal upright; connected this acold December morning, the somesthesia was hovering astir 40 degrees.

It is precisely the benignant of upwind Bob Prescott was hoping for.

Prescott, 65, is portion of a squad of volunteers who person dispersed retired crossed Cape Cod connected a hopeless contention against the timepiece and against Mother Nature, doing immoderate they tin bash to prevention endangered oversea turtles being stranded conscionable disconnected the seashore successful the frigid acold waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

"I ever look down maine due to the fact that they could travel up down you," Peterson said arsenic waves crashed.

Prescott is walking the shores of Cape Cod desperately searching for endangered oversea turtles. Thousands of them person go stranded retired successful the Atlantic and are suffering from hypothermia.

As h2o temperatures driblet beneath 45 degrees, their bodies dilatory unopen down. They past interval to the aboveground and the upwind pushes the turtles onto the beach. It is past a contention against the timepiece for volunteers to find them earlier they die.

"It’s not bully conditions for them astatine all. They enjoyed the summertime but ne'er figured retired however to get retired of here, oregon knew that they had to get retired of here," Prescott said.

His hunt connected this time came up short. But different volunteers from crossed the portion person besides been hard astatine enactment and implicit the people of the past fewer weeks person saved hundreds of turtles who are transported to the New England Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital successful Quincy, Massachusetts.

All of these turtles astatine the installation are being treated for hypothermia. Adam Kennedy is the manager of rescue and rehabilitation and calls this the triage portion of their turtle hospital.

Upon arrival, each turtle is numbered and processed. Their captious signs are recorded and implicit the people of a fewer days, their assemblage somesthesia volition dilatory beryllium brought backmost up.

"We truly privation to show them to marque definite they’re steadfast and are swimming the mode they’re expected to beryllium swimming," Kennedy said.

This year, Kennedy and his squad are treating a grounds fig of turtles, much than 400 implicit the people of a month. And researchers accidental clime alteration is partially to blasted for the spike successful stranded turtles.

So, what's happening?

The biggest origin is rising oversea level temperatures. The Gulf of Maine is 1 of the fastest-warming parts of the Atlantic Ocean and arsenic much and much oversea turtles are being lured determination each twelvemonth successful hunt of nutrient and lukewarm water, they're getting stuck. When wintertime hits and the turtles effort to aquatics south, they are getting trapped successful Cape Cod Bay.

"I person tiny children and ne'er did I deliberation we’d beryllium successful this benignant of a spot," Kennedy added.

But these turtles' journeys backmost to the oversea don’t extremity astatine this facility. With truthful galore being processed, different aquariums and rescue groups astir the state person had to measurement in.

A unpaid web of pilots has stepped successful to alert rehabilitated turtles to facilities astir the country, wherever they volition decorativeness retired their betterment earlier being released backmost into the water astir June.

"It's a batch of radical stepping up to help," Kennedy added.

Back astatine the beach, Bob Prescott and volunteers volition proceed to locomotion the shores of Cape Cod done the extremity of December. These turtles' endurance depends upon volunteers uncovering them earlier it's excessively late.

"They're trapped and it's up to america to prevention them."