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 Eco's
Journey to the NMLC
Loggerhead turtles generally lay their eggs on beaches in the
US southeast -- Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. So it is likely
that Eco, the loggerhead now in pre-release rehabilitation at the
NMLC, began her life in the south.
Scientists believe that young loggerheads, and other marine turtle
species, follow the Gulf Stream north to feed at Stellwagen Banks,
just north of the tip of Cape Cod. Turtles in Cape waters are usually
juveniles, taking advantage of the Cape's rich feeding grounds to
gain weight and strength. Eco, believed to be four to five years
old, made her way into Cape Cod waters and then last fall she got
into trouble.
Because sea turtles are reptiles, most species cannot regulate their
internal body temperatures -- they take on the temperature of their
surroundings. That means that in the fall, when the waters around
the Cape turn cold, sea turtles need to get back into the Gulf Stream.
But not all of them do.
Last fall, Eco, along with 88 other turtles, came ashore "cold-stunned."
With an internal body temperature of 41.9 degrees Fahrenheit, Eco's
systems had shut down. She couldn't navigate on her own and with
a compromised circulation system, blood wasn't reaching her flippers
and the edges of her shell, resulting in tissue decay.
She was found at 6 pm on a beach in Truro, MA on November 30. The
volunteers at the MA Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary who
brought her off the beach did a preliminary assessment and then
transported her to the New England Aquarium. At the Aquarium, the
rehab staff determined that along with the decayed tissue, Eco was
malnourished and dehydrated -- she hadn't eaten in some time.
In addition, her top shell (the carapace) was covered with barnacles,
skeleton shrimp, mollusks, and other creatures. In some areas of
the carapace, bones were exposed.
Loggerheads are susceptible to barnacle growth because they spend
time basking at the surface of the ocean. A barnacle load of two
or three is not unusual, even up to ten. But Eco's barnacles numbered
in the dozens.
When the NEAq staff put Eco in water for the first time after her
stranding, the barnacles opened up and all the waving "fingers"
caused a staff person to exclaim: "She's carrying a whole ecosystem
on her shell." Thus the name Eco.
After four months of intensive care that included removing the barnacles,
forcing fluids, and  monitoring
feedings, Eco was ready for the pre-release rehabilitation stage
of care. When she was found, Eco weighed about 70 pounds; she checked
into the NMLC at just over 95 pounds.
On March 30 she was lifted out of the NEAq pool in a specially designed
"stretcher" and driven to the NMLC. After a brief exam,
Eco was released from the stretcher into the NMLC pool.
Eco's first action in the NMLC tank was to swim rapidly across the
tank and bang into its wall. She backed up and swam almost frantically
in a different direction, banging into the wall in another area
of the tank. After repeating the action at other places in the tank,
she began swimming around the side of the pool, touching it with
one foreflipper.
Turtle observers watched as she gradually became more familiar with
her new home, remarking that her high level of activity was a good
sign that she had taken the transport well. By the next morning,
Eco had begun her adjustment to the new environment, sleeping and
swimming gracefully around the tank.
 At
the NMLC the primary activities focused on continuing to build her
strength and expanding her diet. During critical care she chose
to eat only herring. At the NMLC she was also eating squid, shrimp,
and an occasional crab, more like the menu of loggerheads in the
wild. As of July 2, Eco weighed just over 100 pounds. One challenge
was to provide Eco with "enrichment" -- encouraging natural
behaviors beyond swimming around the pool.
Eco was released on September 13, 2004 off a beach on the south
side of Cape Cod. In her final physical exam on August 30, she weighed
107 pounds and all her blood tests proved normal. Passive tags were
attached to her rear flippers and an identifying microchip was injected
into her shoulder muscle.
As loggerheads mature, they "disappear." Turtle specialists
are not sure where they spend the time between their juvenile years
when they are seen near shore around Cape Cod and the time a decade
or more later when the females come ashore in southern waters to
lay their eggs. If Eco is a female, and she is too young to tell
by external exams, the NMLC has contributed to the preservation
of her species by returning her to the ocean, healthy and ready
for life on her own.
To help us care for Eco, please click on the seal's picture.
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