image: Mass Audubon
Rescuers who are trying to save the lives of endangered sea turtles stranded on Cape Cod beaches are hoping for more GA volunteers, especially pilots with roomy airplanes like a PC-12 or King Air, volunteer organizer Leslie Weinstein told AVweb this week. “We have successfully transported over 500 sea turtlesthanks to all of you [pilots],” Weinstein said.However, about 85 turtles are still in need of transport from the Boston Aquarium to sites in Mississippi, New Orleans and Florida, where they can be cared for. A donor has offered to pay for the fuel for the flight. Each turtle is packed in a box, and no water is involved in the transport, Weinstein said. Two smaller aircraft also could handle the mission.
Weinstein said the turtle migration season is expected to last for another week or two, and after that most of the turtles should be gone from the area. Meanwhile, volunteers are continuing to collect stranded turtles from the beaches, and some of them have not survived. The facilities in southern states have more space where they can care for the turtles for a few weeks until they’re well enough to be released back into the wild. “The majority of the sea turtles are Kemps Ridley, which are the most endangered,” Weinstein said. “This next flight needs to be flown ASAP, in order to guarantee the survival of the turtles.” Weinstein can be contacted by email [email protected], please note “sea turtles” in the subject line.
The turtles are about the size of dinner plates, Weinstein added, and weigh about five pounds each. The packing boxes hold one or two turtles and measure 19 x 12.5 x 8.25 inches.
