BY C O R I N N E B O Y E R
SOLSTICE RECOVERS
AT SEAWORLD
PHOTO COURTESY: MIKE AGUILERA/SEAWORLD SAN DIEGO
U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE TEAMS UP WITH SEAWORLD
TO REHABILITATE RESCUED SEA TURTLES IN OREGON
F
our sea turtles have been reported along the Oregon
and Washington coast since November after becom-
ing stranded in frigid Pacific Northwest waters. Un-
fortunately none of the turtles survived, according
to Laura Todd, the Newport field office supervisor
for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Todd says that the past few winters have been record
years for strandings of sea turtles, in particular for the vul-
nerable olive ridley species.
The strandings have increased in recent years and are
linked to an ocean phenomenon known as “the Blob” and
warm El Niño currents.
Over the past five to 10 years, the USFWS has closely
tracked turtle stranding numbers, and the agency has data
that dates back to 1953, according to Todd.
When a turtle washes ashore, the Oregon Marine Mam-
mal Stranding Network picks up the reptile. Next, preliminary
care is done to stabilize the animal, which can take place at
the Seaside Aquarium, Portland State University or Oregon
State University — or the animal can be directly taken to the
Oregon Coast Aquarium or the Seattle Aquarium.
Those two facilities are the only two permitted to reha-
bilitate stranded sea turtles by USFWS.
Before a rescued reptile is released back into the wild,
USFWS requires every sea turtle recovered on the West
Coast to complete the final stages of its rehabilitation pro-
cess at SeaWorld San Diego. Todd says this step is neces-
sary for turtles “because they need to be in warm water to
be released, and our water is too cold for any cold stranded
turtles.” SeaWorld is also the southernmost rehabilitation fa-
cility on the West Coast.
SeaWorld is still caring for a turtle named Solstice,
found on Dec. 21, 2014, on the Washington coast. In April
2015, KLCC reported the female olive ridley turtle was
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January 12, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com
found cold-shocked on a beach, was cared for by the Or-
egon Coast Aquarium and was later transported by a coast
guard flight to SeaWorld.
Solstice was projected to return to the Pacific Ocean in
the summer of 2015, but the park became inundated with
hundreds of rescued mammals and turtles, which impacted
her rehabilitation process.
Sea turtles feed in open water and follow warm cur-
rents that take them hundreds and in some cases more than
a thousand miles from the native waters like Mexico, ac-
cording to Mike Price, curator of fish and Zoological Op-
erations at SeaWorld.
“For some reason between roughly late 2013 and early
2016, there was a body of water off the Oregon and Wash-
ington coast that was multiple degrees above average for 2.5
years,” Price says.
The warm body of water, named “the Blob,” which is still
being examined by oceanographers, shut down ecosystems
and “provided an area for sea turtles that was comfortable,”
but when it dissipated sea turtles became stuck in cold water
off the Oregon and Washington coasts.
Add strong El Niño currents to the mix, and the reptiles
trapped by these mysterious currents are left incapacitated
or cold stunned.
“As reptiles, cold means slowing down, slowing down
means less food, you’re not able to hydrate yourself, your
organs start shutting down,” Price says.
For about twenty years, SeaWorld has rescued on aver-
age one turtle per year. Todd adds that SeaWorld released
45 turtles in 2016; some have been rehabilitated and others
included several hatchlings born at SeaWorld after a couple
of 50 year-old green sea turtles accidentally bred in 2009.
The park worked with USFWS and the National Marine
Fisheries Service to ensure that the captive animals were
fed a variety of food and were removed from human con-
tact in time to help acclimate the reptiles to life in the wild.
“As of now, we’re still tracking one turtle 127 days later
and that animal is cruising the eastern Pacific about 600
miles off the coast of Mexico,” Todd says.
However, a full recovery for a rescued tropical sea tur-
tle may not occur. Price says sometimes animals are too
far gone by the time they are discovered — three turtles
rescued in the past few years died due to their condition.
Cold-stunned turtles sometimes haven’t eaten in more
than a month when found. And buoyancy issues arise for
stranded reptiles. Price says small gas pockets called alve-
olus transmit oxygen and carbon dioxide from the blood-
stream into the lungs and out through the throat and mouth,
but when turtles become cold stunned the lungs become
damaged and the alveolus are destroyed as well.
Today Solstice is in an 80 to 90 thousand-gallon tank
with two other rescues, and Price says the move to this new
pool is showing “some very positive early results.” The
olive ridley turtle now weighs 54 pounds — she initially
weighed in at 43 pounds in Feb. 2015.
Beachgoers are encouraged to be on the lookout for
stranded sea turtles. Todd says that if you find a sea turtle,
don’t touch it and try to stay with the animal until help arrives.
If rescued turtles survive, but can’t be returned to the
wild, Todd says the American Zoological Association has
rules to help determine where turtles will live.
She says facilities can request for turtles like Solstice
to be kept where their rehabilitation began, which can edu-
cate “the public about stranding and about what happens
to a turtle when it’s been exposed to really cold tempera-
tures.” ■
If you find a sea turtle, do not touch it. Call the Oregon State Police Tipline at
800-452-7888.