| HELP US RESCUE SEA TURTLES THIS FALL
"Cold-stunning” is a process that causes sea turtles to become immobile due to the dramatic decrease in water temperature (usually below 50°F) making it impossible for them to escape the cold water and migrate to warmer water. Once these turtles wash up on our beaches, it is a race for time. A cold-stunned sea turtle may appear to be dead, but may actually be alive! Without proper intervention a cold stunned sea turtle will inevitably die. Please join the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation for a Cold Stunned Sea Turtle Lecture and learn how you can help rescue sea turtles.
Last season the Riverhead Foundation recovered 11 cold stunned sea turtles thanks to the public and our volunteer beach patrollers. If you would like to attend a training lecture and learn how to help rescue sea turtles by patrolling your local beach, please register for one of our free lectures. You can register by calling our office at 631.369.9840 or email volunteers@riverheadfoundation.org .
***Prior registration is required***
Lecture schedule and locations:
Sept 27, 2012 7:00 PM Quogue Wildlife Refuge, 3 Old Country Rd, East Quogue
October 13, 2012 1:00 PM Salt Marsh Nature Center, 3302 Avenue U, Brooklyn
October 14, 2012 1:30 PM Theodore R. Nature Center, Jones Beach State Park, Wantagh
October 15, 2012 6:00 PM Hyatt East End (Peconic Room*), 451 East Main Street, Riverhead
October 21, 2012 1:30 PM Theodore R. Nature Center, Jones Beach State Park, Wantagh
October 24, 2012 12:00 PM Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge, 340 Smith Road, Shirley
October 28, 2012 1:30 PM Hyatt East End (Peconic Room*), 451 East Main Street, Riverhead
November 1, 2012 1:00 PM Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge, 340 Smith Road, Shirley
November 3, 2012 2:30 PM Theodore R. Nature Center, Jones Beach State Park, Wantagh
November 5, 2012 5:00 PM Bridgehampton Library (Group for East End), 2478 Main Street, Bridgehampton
November 10, 2012 1:00 PM Inwood Hill Nature Center, 218th and Indian Rd, Manhattan
November 13, 2012 6:00 PM Hyatt East End (Peconic Room*), 451 East Main Street, Riverhead
November 14, 2012 7:00 PM Quogue Wildlife Refuge, 3 Old Country Rd, East Quogue
November 15, 2012 6:30 PM Patchogue/Medford Library, 54-60 East Main St, Patchogue
November 17, 2012 4:00 PM Quogue Wildlife Refuge, 3 Old Country Rd, East Quogue
November 25, 2012 1:30 PM Hyatt East End (Peconic Room*), 451 East Main Street, Riverhead
November 27, 2012 7:00 PM Locust Valley Library, 170 Buckram Road, Locust Valley
December 1, 2012 3:00 PM Alley Pond Environmental Center, 228-06 Northern Blvd, Queens
December 8, 2012 1:00 PM Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge, 340 Smith Road, Shirley
*Peconic room is located within the Hyatt Place next door to the LI Aquarium, across from the indoor pool.
Please call (631) 369-9840 to register. For further information visit our website at www.riverheadfoundation
WHAT TO DO IF YOU FIND A COLD-STUNNED SEA TURTLE
• To report the stranding of a cold-stunned sea turtle, call the 24 hour emergency hotline number at 631-369-9829 immediately for further instructions and to arrange a pick up for both live and dead sea turtles. You may also report the strandings of other marine mammals (seals, dolphins, whales & porpoises) to the above emergency hotline number.
• DO NOT PLACE THE TURTLE IN WATER
• DO NOT ATTEMPT TO WARM THE TURTLE! Rapid warming may cause irreversible damage to a cold-stunned reptile. Time is a factor in proper rehabilitation.
• Become a trained sea turtle beach patroller by attending one of the sea turtle cold stun lectures or by calling the Riverhead Foundation at 631.369.9840 and talking to one of the biologists.
• When you walk on the beach, search the entire beach from the dune line to the water line, check the water for floating turtles, look through the high tide line for turtles buried beneath the dried seaweed.
• You can patrol at any time, but the chances are greater for finding a turtle if you patrol after high tide, particularly after storms or extremely cold weather.
• If you have to leave the area before the rescue team arrives, CLEARLY mark the location of the turtle so that it can be quickly located.
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