 As the season gets colder and the temperatures shift in our local ocean waters, marine animal strandings become more common on our beaches. In the past, Littoral Staff have encountered stranded sea turtles on Sandy Hook and even a stranded whale near Rockaway Beach in New York. Many animals are sensitive to abrupt changes in ocean water temperatures that can occur at this time of year. Human activities such as construction, boating and fishing can also play a role. If you see stranded, injured, sick or deceased marine mammals or sea turtles on the beach, please do not attempt to help the animals. Warming cold stunned creatures can send them into shock. If the animal may still be alive, call the stranding hotline for New York at 631-369-9829. If you find a stunned or injured marine mammal in New Jersey, contact the Marine Mammal Stranding Center at 609-266-0538 or via their website: https://mmsc.org/. For turtles, contact Sea Turtle Recover at 609-667-4076. The stranding hotline numbers are active 24 hours/7 days per week.  In U.S. waters, marine mammals such as whales, seals and dolphins, as well as marine reptiles such as Sea Turtles, are protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The New York Marine Rescue Center and the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society handle all stranding reports for NY through their 24-hour hotline. The rescue center recently reported that their trained teams have already rescued 26 sea turtles since the weather turned cold. Often the rescued animals are sick and turtles that are cold stunned may appear deceased. Comments are closed.
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