Wellfleet Bay Sanctuary

Nor?Ida Whips up a Wild Weekend at Wellfleet Bay

Tropical depression Ida landed in the Northeast and Cape Cod last week as a nor’easter. While we were spared the heavy rains that fell just over the bridge, the Cape was pummeled with strong winds that gusted over 40 mph at times on Friday and Saturday. Despite the wild weather, 13 hearty folks came down to Wellfleet Bay to spend the weekend with us looking for stranded marine animals as part of an adult Cape Cod Field School.

Mid November is the traditional peak time for strandings of cold-stunned sea turtles on bayside beaches. The field school was organized to take advantage of this and enlist the help of the participants in the rescue of sea turtles off the beach, as well as provide them with a unique educational experience. Unfortunately, Mother Nature didn’t cooperate. With the winds out of the east-northeast and balmy temperatures in the 50s, the conditions were not right for turtle strandings to occur.

While we didn’t find any cold-stunned sea turtles, there were plenty of unique educational experiences throughout the weekend.  Given the winds, the group patrolled Sandy Neck and Scusset Beach in search stranded marine life and got an insider’s look at winter beach ecology. The group assisted with the removal of a 250 pound + ocean sunfish from a Wellfleet beach which was brought back to the sanctuary for a group-assisted necropsy. A peek inside a deceased Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle was also a thrill for many of the participants. And the weekend ended with a cruise into Wellfleet Harbor to see grey seals and seabirds and ducks. A rare sighting of a pilot whale within the harbor was also a thrill! Visit Don Lewis’ Turtle Journal for details on the weekend—complete with photos and video.(Ed. Note: You can also follow Don on Twitter @turtlejournal.)

The weekend was led by Sanctuary Director Bob Prescott, Naturalist Dennis Murley, researchers Don Lewis and Sue Wieber Nourse (who provided these images), and Carol “Krill” Carson, adjunct professor at Bridgewater State College and founder of NEBShark. The collective energy, enthusiasm, and knowledge combined with the participants’ sense of adventure and good humor, made for a great weekend.

Melissa Lowe