COURTESY NATIONAL MARINE LIFE CENTER
A turtle named “Anchor” swimming at National Marine Life Center.
BOSTON – The New England Aquarium is opening a new exhibit this week that highlights how it takes care of injured sea turtles.
Visitors to the interactive exhibit that opens Wednesday can learn how injured and endangered turtles are diagnosed, treated, rehabilitated, and then released back into the wild.
Hundreds of turtles become “cold-stunned” on Cape Cod beaches every fall. Many undergo treatment and rehabilitation at the aquarium and the National Marine Life Center in Buzzards Bay.
Visitors will hear how cold-stunned turtles’ hearts beat slower than healthy turtles after they wash ashore from cold ocean waters. They can see how turtles undergo CT scans, surgery, blood work, X-rays, and treatments with antibiotics, nutrients, and nebulizers. There are simulated respiratory, skeletal, and digestive diagnostic tests that visitors get a chance to try out themselves.
The aquarium last fall took care of more than 700 sea turtles that had stranded in the region.
