From our news services
The National Park Service and N.E.S.T. (Network for Endangered Sea Turtles) will hold a cold-stun sea turtle volunteer training at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 2, in the Ocracoke Community Center.
The training is open to all who want to help locate cold-stunned sea turtles that wash up on Ocracoke’s sound and ocean sides.
Cold stunning is a condition similar to hypothermia that is caused by dropping water temperatures. Sea turtles are cold-blooded reptiles that depend on the temperature of their surroundings to maintain their body temperature. During a cold snap when water temperatures dip below 50 degrees, they go into a state of hypothermic shock also known as “cold stunning,” causing them to float to the surface. At that time, winds and currents may push them onto land.
The session will include a Zoom session with N.E.S.T. Director Jerrica Rea who will review the updated cold-stun patrol and response policies for this year.
This year, volunteers will patrol once a day in the morning during cold-stun conditions and will drop off sea turtles for the 11:30 a.m. ferry to Hatteras.
If a stunned sea turtle is reported by the public after the morning patrol is concluded, the latest guidance is that NPS staff will target removal of the sea turtle on the next day’s patrol.
The Buxton staging site will close at 1 p.m. this year daily for increased safety of volunteers driving at night and reducing burnout of transportation volunteers and aquarium staff/volunteers at the Manteo STAR Center.
During extraordinary events, the NPS can coordinate with North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission staff to send sea turtles on the 1 p.m. Cedar Island ferry where they will ultimately be transported to the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium or Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Center in Surf City.
The session will include new volunteer leadership opportunities with N.E.S.T., such as joining an updated call list that enables you to respond as a permitted N.E.S.T. volunteer to living and dead stranded sea turtles on private property in Ocracoke Village (including Springer’s Point, North Pond, Oyster Creek, etc.).
This will free up NPS staff to respond to sea turtles on Cape Hatteras National Seashore property and mirrors the N.E.S.T/NPS relationship that is in place on Hatteras Island currently.
Additionally, NPS will need assistance patrolling Seashore property, much the same as last year.
For those interested in joining patrols on Cape Hatteras National Seashore, NPS staff will have Volunteer Service Agreements prepared similar to those of prior years for the nest-sitting program