Rare but possible: Sea turtle network asks residents to keep their eye on the shoreline

The water temperatures are getting colder, and for sea turtles, this could be bad news.

If a sea turtle ends up in water that's 10 C or below, it could become cold-stunned, which is similar to hypothermia but for turtles, according to April Nason, the education and outreach co-ordinator for the Canadian Sea Turtle Network in Nova Scotia.

A cold-stunned sea turtle is unable to swim or eat and will just end up floating at the top of the water.

Nason said the current can pull cold-stunned turtles into the Bay of Fundy and high winds can then blow them onto shore.

"Once they're onshore, they're then of course exposed to the elements — the wind, the snow, and/or the rain — and so … their temperature will then start to decrease further, and then become lethal," said Nason, who is originally from Saint John.

She said it is rare though to find one washed up on shore. 

In December 2020, she said there was one found in Saint John and there's usually only around one or two found in the Maritimes every year.

But Nason said when they have been found, they aren't in the best condition because they were left lying on the shore for too long. 

So she's hoping to get more volunteers involved in surveying beaches to watch for washed-up turtles in an attempt to find them sooner and save them.

Samantha Hudson, a volunteer with the sea turtle network since 2016, said she's always been drawn to turtles and passionate about species-at-risk.

Hudson, who lives in Miramichi, will survey a stretch of beach from around October to January every year with a watchful eye for sea turtles.

She tries to go every week, but sometimes her visits are less frequent.

The volunteer work consists of walking along a specific stretch of beach every once in a while, and filling out a few questions on a data sheet, she said.

Hudson said she thinks this kind of volunteer work is important.