May 17, 2021
Explore this story map to learn more about cold stunned sea turtles and the partners who help save them!
A cold-stunned Kemp's ridley sea turtle washes up on a Wellfleet, Massachusetts beach.
Cold stunning is a natural phenomenon on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. However, the number of turtles that strand (wash up on beaches) each year has been steadily increasing in recent decades. This story map tells the story of sea turtles that cold stun on Cape Cod, their journey through rehabilitation, their release back into the wild, and the partners who help save these turtles.
Traveling Turtles: Rescue and Rehabilitation of Cold Stunned Sea Turtles Story Map
North Atlantic right whale Horton and newborn calf. Credit: Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, taken under NOAA permit #26919.
An oceanic whitetip shark swims near the surface of the water. Photo courtesy of John Carlson.
Right whale #3853 swimming north offshore of South Carolina on Jan. 20, 2011 with a series of fresh propeller wounds running across its back. The whale was observed 5 days previously offshore of Georgia without propeller wounds. It is unknown whether the whale survived its wounds or not, as it has not been re-sighted since. Vessel collisions are a leading cause of right whale mortality. Credit: EcoHealth Alliance (NOAA permit #594-1759).
North Atlantic right whale Catalog #3560 ‘Snow Cone’ sighted December 2, 2021 entangled and with a new calf. Photo credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission taken under NOAA permit 20556.
