Coast Guard Public Affairs Detachment San Diego

Coast Guard takes 2 turtles to the skies

Story by Petty Officer Allyson E.T. Conroy

The Coast Guard is known for saving multiple human lives every day. They have even been known to save deer from the ice and dogs from the water. On this particular day, though, the crewmembers of Air Station Sacramento did not necessarily pull two sea turtles from the frigid waters off the Oregon Coast, but they were just as instrumental in their survival.

Two sea turtles, an Olive Ridley named Myrtle, and a Pacific green named Maud, were transported from the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, Ore., to the care of SeaWorld experts Thursday, Jan. 28, 2009.  To accomplish this task multiple government agencies worked together to relocate them more than 1,000 miles. The Fish and Wildlife Service coordinated the transportation with the Department of Homeland Security to use a Coast Guard C-130 Hercules plane from Sacramento, Ca., and fly the turtles to a Department of Defense Naval airfield in San Diego. 

The aquarium provided the initial care of the turtles after they were rescued in November.  Myrtle was found on Agate beach near Newport and Maude was picked up in Long Beach, Wa.  After their initial rescue the two were transported to the Oregon Coast Aquarium where they were triaged and stabilized before their long journey south.

“We had permitted the aquarium to provide care, and transport the turtles for return to the wild,” said Laura L. Todd of the Fish and Wildlife Service in Newport. Before the turtles could be returned to their natural habitat, Todd said the two would require a great deal more care, care that required experts at a place like SeaWorld. The next step was getting the two turtles to Southern California. 

Todd said various methods of transportation were considered to relocate Myrtle and Maude, the names given to the turtles that are suspected to be female. That’s when the Coast Guard was called to help.

“We received the request for assistance earlier in the month, but we were unable to support this mission until recently due to other operations,” said Cmdr. Todd Lightle, the assistant operations officer of Air Station Sacramento. “The flexibility of the Department of Interior allowed us to pair this important environmental mission with a more routine training mission.  The crew overall received a very well rounded experience. The pilots were exposed to a new airport, and the crew was exposed to the unique challenges of loading marine wildlife.”

“This particular mission demonstrates the versatility of the Coast Guard and its assets,” said Lt. Cmdr. Wess Hester.  “Just last week members of this aircrew were on another mission bringing relief supplies to Haiti. This week they are helping to save the lives of two turtles.”

The aircrew took off from Sacramento just after 8 a.m., and flew to Newport to pick up the precious cargo.  Finally in the early afternoon, the C-130 touched down at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego

“They didn’t really like the flight at all,” said Gary Gamer, president and CEO of the Oregon Coast Aquarium. He said Maud, the larger green sea turtle, moved around in her crate through the entire flight.  But the crew from the aquarium and the C-130 aircrew constantly checked up on the two to make sure they as comfortable as possible, he said.

Almost as soon as the plane touched down, a SeaWorld truck backed to the plane and the turtles were carefully moved to their next mode of transportation, and the last leg of their journey.

Tim Downing, the assistant currier of the fish department at SeaWorld, was on hand to help transport the turtles. He said these turtles are native to the Pacific waters and tend to feed off the waters of Mexico and Southern California.  However, with the warmer waters brought in with the El Nino weather patterns, they suspect the turtles probably got caught in some warm water patches and the jet stream carried them further north than they are used to.

“They have been known to swim as far north as the Northwest, but by summer they generally turn around and head back south,” Downing said.

Maude and Myrtle will spend the next several months with the caregivers at SeaWorld while they are rehabilitated.  Downing said it is uncertain how long it will take for them to be at full strength, but the turtles will stay put at least until the waters off Southern California warm up a little bit. And it might be a little bit longer than that.

“There are a couple of turtles we have had here for more than a year,” he said.  “We want to make sure they will survive before sending them back out into the wild. We believe these two might be females, therefore it will be very important to get them back to their environment so they can have babies and hopefully help increase the turtle population. ”

At the end of a long day and an even longer journey, the turtles finally said good-bye to their Oregon Coast Aquarium lifesavers, and their Coast Guard aircrew as they took to the comfort of their respective tubs of water.  That night, Downing said they would feast on shrimp and begin their road to recovery.

For imagery, please click on the links below:

Photo:

The Crew checks in on the turtles in flight

Securing the crates in flight

Moving the turtles to the SeaWorld truck

Loading the turtles onto the SeaWorld truck

SeaWorld Truck preparing to take the turtles

The turtles in their tubs at SeaWorld

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