A loggerhead sea turtle found in Pedder Bay last February, severely hypothermic and hundreds of nautical miles from its normal range, was released into warmer waters near San Diego on Thursday.
The turtle, nicknamed Moira, had been nursed back to health by the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society and later at Sea World San Diego, where marine biologists and others helped ensure she was robust enough to return to the wild.
Moira’s epic journey started on Feb. 4, when Pedder Bay residents cleaning up litter and checking crab traps found the loggerhead turtle in “cold shock” and near death in bull kelp not far from shore.
They pulled the 38-kilogram turtle from the water and, with a permit from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, put the animal in a wheelbarrow.
The sea turtle was rushed by local biologist Anna Hall to the Lower Mainland, with B.C. Ferries holding a 7 p.m. sailing for the precious and very rare cargo.
It was only the second confirmed sighting of a loggerhead on B.C.’s coast — and the first ever to be taken into care. It isn’t known how the turtle ended up nearly 500 kilometres outside the loggerhead’s northern-most range. Loggerhead turtles are typically found in tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
The North Pacific loggerhead turtle population, currently listed as an endangered species in the U.S., originates from nesting sites in Japan and roams the ocean in currents, occasionally foraging closer to land along the U.S. coast from Oregon down to Mexico.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada speculated the turtle might have been caught in a warm current that carried the animal to much colder water, adding changing weather patterns and ocean temperatures as a result of climate change could also be affecting the distribution of prey for loggerheads, sending them farther north.
The aquarium rescue team stabilized the severely hypothermic sea turtle, whose core temperature was only 8 C when she was admitted, but it took several months for rescue staff to bring her back to health.
“This has been a remarkable story for Moira,” said Martin Haulena, executive director of the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society. “We are very proud of the vital role that VAMMR and Vancouver Aquarium staff have played in getting her ready to be released by SeaWorld and Turtles Fly Too.”
Turtles Fly Too flew the sea turtle from Vancouver to San Diego on one of its medivac flights.
At SeaWorld San Diego, the veterinary and rescue teams assessed the turtle and found she was able to swim in larger, deeper pools.
“Her impressive diving abilities during the evaluation along with a healthy blood sample showed she was fully prepared to return to her natural habitat this week,” SeaWorld said in a statement.
Moira has been fitted with a satellite tracker, allowing scientists to follow her journey and monitor her movements.
In a joint statement on Thursday, scientists involved in the rehabilitation said the efforts of organizations and federal agencies on both sides of the border were essential, given the endangered status of loggerhead turtles in the North Pacific.
“With their population dwindling, each turtle — particularly females, who are essential to the species’ reproductive capacity — plays a vital role in their survival,” the statement said. “Protecting these turtles is not only about saving an individual but also about preserving marine life and maintaining the health of the broader marine ecosystem.”
Moira is considered to be a “sub-adult,” 15 to 20 years old. Loggerheads can live up to 80 years and don’t reach breeding age until over the age of 30. The males never return to land and the females only return to nest and lay eggs.
The only other confirmed sighting of a loggerhead sea turtle in B.C. waters was in 2015 about 80 kilometres off Tofino, when crew aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Ship John P. Tully spotted a loggerhead near the ship.
Loggerhead sea turtles are carnivores, only occasionally consuming plant material, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
During their open-ocean phase, they feed on a wide variety of floating items. Unfortunately, debris discarded by humans tends to accumulate in their habitat and they can end up eating small fragments of plastic they mistake for food.
Juveniles and adults in coastal waters eat mostly bottom-dwelling invertebrates such as whelks, other mollusks, horseshoe crabs and other crabs. Their powerful jaws are designed to crush their prey.
Adult loggerhead turtles typically weigh 135 kilograms, but larger specimens can weigh up to 450 kilograms.
