by Deborah Huso
Courtesy National Aquarium in Baltimore
While the National Aquarium’s Marine Animal Rescue Program’s key purpose is to rescue stranded marine creatures, a special side benefit is how it teaches visitors to protect those creatures in the first place.
They have lived on the Earth for millions of years, virtually unchanged. They were here with the dinosaurs and long before man ever walked the Earth or explored the sea. But today, all seven species of the world’s sea turtles are considered endangered or threatened, their numbers dwindling substantially just in the last 50 years.
They have lived on the Earth for millions of years, virtually unchanged. They were here with the dinosaurs and long before man ever walked the Earth or explored the sea. But today, all seven species of the world’s sea turtles are considered endangered or threatened, their numbers dwindling substantially just in the last 50 years.
The Kemp’s Ridley, one of the sea turtle species that frequents the Chesapeake Bay in spring and summer, has a nesting population right now of about 1,000; whereas 60 years ago, their nesting population hovered around 42,000. Their ever-decreasing numbers are disheartening, not just for the endangered turtles that frequent bay waters in the warmer months, but for humans as well.
Because they have survived for millennia, sea turtles’ sudden proximity to extinction could very well be a bellwether for us all. Given the fact that sea turtles occupy the top of the food chain, the potential impact of their extinction on the ocean’s web of life could be significant, as any biologist who understands the complex interweaving of the world’s food chains can attest. The sea turtle is only one among a variety of species that are threatened within the Chesapeake Bay’s waters.
But endangered marine animals are not alone in their struggle to survive. Research groups around the globe are struggling to help those that are most threatened by the actions of humans. Among them are members of the Baltimore National Aquarium’s 17-year-old Marine Animal Rescue Program (MARP), which responds to calls of live stranded marine creatures, sea turtles among them, and attempts to rehabilitate those animals and return them to the sea while also educating the public about why the animals end up stranded in the first place.
How MARP Got Started
Turtles are rehabilitated at the National Aquarium, with the ultimate goal of release into their natural habitat. Courtesy National Aquarium in Baltimore.
The National Aquarium never really intended to get into the stranded sea animal business. In 1991, the aquarium received a call about a stranded seal in Ocean City, Maryland. They responded, and the aquarium’s rescue program formally began a short while later with the authorization of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its membership in the National Stranding Network. The aquarium currently responds to calls mostly in Maryland waters, but occasionally in Virginia and Delaware as well.
It is the only facility that responds to live animal strandings in Maryland. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) handles dead strandings. The most rescued sea creatures are seals and sea turtles. Among those turtles are the rare green sea turtle, the more common juvenile loggerheads, the Kemp’s Ridley, and occasionally leatherbacks. According to stranding coordinator Jennifer Ditmar, MARP receives about 30 to 40 calls on strandings per year, but only a handful of those will actually be rescued and maybe only three to five rehabilitated. Many of the calls MARP receives are for animals that are not actually in need but are just perceived to be by the public. In these cases, MARP usually monitors the stranded animal for 24 to 48 hours to make sure it will be okay on its own.
The Animals MARP Rescues
While MARP has rescued everything from porpoises and dolphins to manatees and pygmy sperm whales, the majority of calls are for seals, especially in winter months. Seals are cold water creatures and live in bay waters throughout the winter. Seals are especially vulnerable to humans because they eat the same creatures that humans do, so they compete with fisheries.
Sea turtles, on the other hand, tend to be the victims of more direct human interaction—getting tangled in fishing nets or being hit by boat propellers. The big season for sea turtles in the Chesapeake Bay is mid-May through August, when anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 sea turtles enter the bay to forage. Because sea turtles are cold-blooded animals, they require warm waters and spend their winters in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Florida, or in the Caribbean. When spring comes, they follow the Gulf Stream up the Atlantic coast, some stopping off to feed in the Chesapeake Bay. Of these, most are juveniles for whom the bay has become a fertile ground for development and feeding. Others move up the coast of New England as far as Maine.
Of the four species that can be found in the Chesapeake Bay, the Kemp’s Ridley is the most endangered, as they nest exclusively on one beach off the coast of Texas. Sea turtles do not typically nest in the Maryland waters MARP serves. Tricia Kimmel, acting stranding coordinator with the DNR, believes it’s because Maryland waters are just too cold.
Little is known about adult male sea turtles and juveniles or the general foraging practices of turtles in northern waters. Food sources for the sea turtles in the Chesapeake Bay obviously remain plentiful, as many return to the region to feed year after year. “But their fortunes, of course,” says Molly Sheehan with the National Aquarium, “are inextricably linked to the health of the bay.”
All sea turtles do not eat the same things; their diet depends on their species. The Kemp’s Ridley is mostly a bottom feeder, eating crabs, clams, and shrimp. Green sea turtles tend to be vegetarians, while loggerheads eat jellyfish and fish. It is not clear whether turtles can be impacted by pollution in the water or in the foods they eat, but it is clear that humans have impacts on these creatures in other ways.
Seal and Sea Turtle Strandings
The main reasons stranding teams came into existence were to try to help marine animals negatively impacted by human activities have a fighting chance to survive as well as to collect data about the animals.
Seals often come onto beaches to lie in the sun, nurse, or give birth. It’s not always a stranding situation, so MARP likes to monitor animals before reacting to a call from the public. A decade ago, MARP tracked a released hooded seal for 10 months. He traveled over 10,000 miles in that time. A harbor seal MARP rescued in 1996 but who was unreleasable because of a gunshot wound is still alive and well at the Detroit Zoo.
While many of the sea turtles that strand on Maryland’s beaches are already dead, when a live stranding occurs the National Aquarium responds, often as a result of calls from the DNR, U.S. Coast Guard, or a local police force.
“An injured sea turtle will be incapacitated,” says Ditmar, “and then get washed ashore.” Among the common human-related injuries are boat propeller wounds or blunt force trauma from collision with a boat as well as entanglements in fishing gear. Many are injured by shrimp trawlers that don’t use turtle excluder devices (TEDs), though the use of TEDs is required in both the United States and Mexico.
After the National Aquarium finds out where the live stranded animal is, about how large it is, and what its injuries may be, staff or volunteers head out to the bay to rescue the animal. If the call is on the Atlantic coast, they will send a volunteer stranding team from Ocean City. Volunteers are specially trained to assist with marine animal rescue and are often boat captains, EMTs, or firefighters in daily life.
Ditmar says once a stranding team arrives on the scene and the animal is evaluated, it is made ready for transport back to the aquarium.
“The animal is usually the easiest part to handle,” notes Ditmar. “What’s more challenging is the public outreach, because people are naturally attracted to the situation on the beach.”
She says it’s important for stranding team members to try to educate the public as they prepare the sea turtle or other rescued sea animals for transport since humans are the ultimate cause of a lot of the strandings.
The stranding team moves the injured animal in a special carrier lined with foam to give the animal padding and allow it to breathe more easily. If it’s a long trip, they’ll use salt water to keep the animal moist. Once back at the aquarium, the animal’s injuries will be treated, and he will be rehabilitated and, hopefully, returned to the sea. Ditmar says MARP’s primary focus is getting injured animals back into their natural environment.
Rescued Animals Educate the Public
Sometimes, rehabilitation and release just isn’t possible. Some years ago, the aquarium brought in an injured Kemp’s Ridley they call Calypso. She had an infection in her front flipper, which had to be amputated. As a result, she could never survive again in the wild, so the aquarium kept her. In a way, she has become part of the aquarium’s mission by helping to educate visitors about sea turtles and how humans can negatively impact their ability to survive.
Currently, Calypso is part of the aquarium’s “Wings of Water” exhibit. Under NOAA regulations, the National Aquarium cannot use rescued marine life for exhibits unless they are non-releasable, like Calypso. So today, Calypso is a vivid reminder to visitors of how humans can impact wild creatures.
But even the animals that the aquarium rehabilitates and can’t display to visitors serve as an educational tool. Ditmar says if MARP has recently released an animal and is tracking it, they let kids who visit as part of school groups track the creature’s movements—its favorite habitats and migration patterns becoming apparent over the course of time. Many of these animals that have been fitted with satellite tags have their stories posted on the aquarium’s website.
Aquarium staff also educate visitors through the use of artifacts from rescued animals, such as sea turtle shells, seal pelts, and dolphin skulls, which they can find on display. They use interpretive tools like plastic bags to demonstrate how a sea turtle could mistake such an item for a squid or jellyfish and ingest it. MARP staff also attend a variety of fairs and festivals where they teach visitors about human impacts on marine life.
Kimmel with the DNR says the majority of the calls her organization receives on strandings come from the public. “We rely on reports from public citizens,” Kimmel explains, “so it’s important to educate the public about these strandings.”
“Over half the animals we rescue have been injured because of human-related causes,” says Ditmar. “It’s important for us to give back to these animals.” Ditmar says marine animals need human help sometimes, especially sea turtles. “Their numbers are small enough that each individual we can get back out there in the sea can make a big difference.”
How You Can Help Marine Animals Survive
- Marine animals are sensitive to and impacted by the activities of humans. You can increase the survival rate of the marine creatures that frequent the Chesapeake Bay and other marine environments simply by being responsible while enjoying the beach and water and while engaging in normal everyday activities. “Ocean health begins at home,” says Ditmar.
- Watch for animals when boating, especially turtles. Obey speed limits. Many are injured by boat strikes even though they are relatively easy to spot at the surface of the water.
- Don’t litter on the beach. Debris in the water can resemble food sources. For example, plastic bags resemble jellyfish. Animals can get sick or die from eating trash, including discarded fishing hooks and line.
- Don’t use pesticides and fertilizers on your lawn. Look for organic alternatives, as anything that’s on your lawn eventually makes its way into the water.
- Make sensible, sustainable seafood choices. The National Aquarium, for example, offers seafood watch cards that visitors can have to keep in their wallets to help them determine what to eat at restaurants.
- If you find a stranded animal on the beach, whether alive or dead, or a seal or sea turtle in distress in the water, do not attempt to move the creature. Call the Maryland Natural Resources Stranding Hotline for help at 1-800-628-9944.
Deborah Huso is a freelance writer based in Blue Grass, Virginia, and writes extensively on travel, outdoor recreation, history, and home restoration and design for publications that have included Preservation Magazine, The Progressive Farmer, Old House Journal, and Military Officer. Contact her at www.drhuso.com.
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In the late Douglas Adams’s novel, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, two women walk along the beach, having finally realized their lifelong dream of seeing the Pacific Ocean. One turns to the other and says, “You know, it’s not as big as I expected.”
