Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary

Neighborhood Party Turns Wild as Loggerhead “crashes”

On Sunday October 11th, Joe and Sharon Tatulli, long-time Mass Audubon members, were enjoying an afternoon party at a friend’s home that overlooks Drummer Cove in South Wellfleet. Despite the good company and fine conversation, Joe’s attention was distracted while he was gazing out over the marsh because he noticed a large animal moving through the water. He quickly left the party and hurried down to the water’s edge to see what it was.

What it turned out to be was a 175 pound, female Loggerhead turtle! However, she swam away and was not seen again that evening. But she’d be back….

Joe recounts the rest of the story:

“On Monday morning I headed back to Drummer Cove to see what I could find. The tide was low and I trekked across the mud flats to the small stream that runs through the marsh where I had last seen the turtle. There she was.

Mrs. Santos (the host of the previous day’s party) had called Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary earlier and left a message. It was 8:37 when I called and got Wellfleet Bay’s Diane Reynolds. Diane sent her co-worker James Nielsen down with a pickup truck and we proceeded to pull the turtle out of the stream and carry it to James' pick-up and then to the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary.

Wellfleet Bay staff contacted the New England Aquarium in Boston. Biologist Adam Kennedy came down to the Cape and picked up the seemingly healthy turtle for blood tests and an x-ray back at the aquarium.

As of this post I am awaiting news on the turtle's condition and where and when she will be released back into the ocean for her long swim south for the winter.”

Check out New England Aquarium’s blog post from October 12 that also chronicles this event.

Each fall and winter, typically starting in November, but as early as the end of October, cold-stunned sea turtles are found stranded on bayside beaches. Succumbing to dropping water temperatures, these rare marine reptiles wash ashore—most of the immobile and appear lifeless. Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary staff and scores of volunteers canvass the beaches in search of stranded turtles and send them to the New England Aquarium for rehabilitation.

This large Loggerhead was a big surprise because the smaller individuals, the juvenile turtles, typically strand early—and it is usually Kemp’s Ridley and Green sea turtles that come ashore first. And what makes this turtle even more unique was that she was the second largest Loggerhead known to strand on Cape Cod beaches. Perhaps her health was compromised in other ways—only time and tests will tell. But it was a good sign that she was active and feisty!

We thank Joe and Sharon Tatulli for their commitment to this turtle and Mass Audubon. And thanks to Joe for contributing to the blog post and the great images.

You can learn more about stranded wildlife in Wellfleet Bay’s special Marine Animal Stranding Weekend for adults coming up next month. Click here for program details. Email me directly for a detailed itinerary.

Melissa Lowe