SOUTH WELLFLEET – Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is giving the public a behind the scenes look into its care of cold-stunned sea turtles today.
An open house will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the sanctuary in South Wellfleet.
Attendees will be able to get a “behind the scenes” tour of the wet lab and there will be a special photo exhibit focusing on sea turtle natural history and rescue and research efforts.
There will also be activities for including a craft table along with a turtle themed “Creature Feature” from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
A beach walk will also be held at noon to search for stranded sea turtles.
“With last year bringing in such an unprecedented number of turtles we wanted to host an open house this fall to invite people into the sanctuary to learn more about the work we do rescuing the sea turtles off the beaches,” said Spring Beckhorn, a teacher and naturalist for the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and organizer of the event.
A record number of sea turtles, more than 1,250, were found stranded on Cape beaches last year.
“This is usually a time that is really busy for us so we usually have lots of turtles coming in at that time,” Beckhorn said. “We can’t say for sure if that will happen this year but that was kind of the hope that we might actually have some turtles for people to see.”
There will also be two special lectures during the day.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution guest investigator and NOAA post-doctoral researcher Kara Dodge will present “Notes from the Field: A Decade of Leatherback Turtle Research off Cape Cod and the Islands” at 11 a.m.
The sanctuary’s director Bob Prescott will discuss his 30 years of experience with sea turtle rescue along with highlights from last year’s record stranding season at 2 p.m.
The unique shape of the Cape causes sea turtles to get caught in the bay when they are trying to get south for warmer waters. As the water temperature drops the turtles are unable to move and wash up on the beach.
The majority of the turtles that are stranded are Kemp’s Ridley turtles, which are the most endangered in the world. Other stranded species include Loggerhead turtles and green turtles.
By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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