Cold-Stunned Sea Turtles In Florida Needed Rescue: This is What Happened

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17 sea turtles were found off the coast

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of northern Florida after a deep freeze

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hit the north part of the state and these

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turtles needed help.

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They got rescued, they got added to the

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Logged Head Marine Life

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Center and they are on the mend.

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We're going to talk about what cold

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stunning is, how it happens and how these

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sea turtles recover from it on this

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episode of the How to

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Protect the Ocean podcast.

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Let's start the show.

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Hey everybody, welcome back to another

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exciting episode of the How

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to Protect the Ocean podcast.

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I'm your host, Andrew Lewin and this is

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the podcast where you find out what's

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happening with the ocean, how you can

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speak up for the ocean and what you can

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do to live for a better

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ocean by taking action.

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And on today's episode, we're going to be

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talking about sea turtles and cold

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stunning and what that is, how it affects

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the sea turtles and how they are rescued

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and what they need to do to go put them

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back into the ocean.

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We're going to talk all about that.

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But before we do, if this is your first

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protect the ocean by going to our

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website, speakupforblue.com.

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to enjoy that information.

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Let's get back to the show.

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We're talking sea turtles.

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This happens every once in a while.

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Sea turtles get cold stunned.

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What is a cold stun?

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Well, essentially sea turtles are

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susceptible to a condition known as cold

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stunning, which occurs when they're

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exposed to cold water temperatures

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leading to hypothermia and immobility.

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This phenomenon has been documented in

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various regions, particularly during

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sudden cold spells, which the northern

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part of Florida received

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this with the past week.

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It was kind of crazy.

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A lot of people in northern Florida and

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Georgia and southern part of Georgia had

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received about two inches of snow, which

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doesn't happen in Georgia or Florida.

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Really interesting

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phenomenon that happened.

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Although there are people who really

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enjoyed the snow and enjoyed doing what

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they needed to do to have some fun.

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Some animals did not enjoy it so much.

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And these 17 sea turtles that were

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rescued off the coast of St. Augustine,

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Florida were brought to the loggerhead

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marine life center in order to

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rehabilitate before

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going back to the ocean.

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These sea turtles were found either on

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the coastline where they

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were just kind of frozen.

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They're not frozen in terms of like

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icicles, but they were just frozen in

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terms of they couldn't move.

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They were mobile.

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They weren't feeling well.

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They just got frozen.

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These are still animals that have to be

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heated by the water

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surrounding to be helped.

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And so this cold water that was hit the

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ocean really quickly, because if it's

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cold on land, it's cold in the water and

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they just got stunned by it.

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Literally stunned along the coastline.

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Some sea turtles were floating

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along the coast in the water.

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They were rescued as well, brought to the

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loggerhead marine life

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center and they were helped.

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So initially what happens when they get

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cold, stunned, they go into like a

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hypothermic state, right?

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So they become lethargic.

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They are unable to swim

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properly and they can risk death.

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They can risk like sinking down and not

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being able to breathe,

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which is not helpful, right?

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Veterinarians and animal rescue teams

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follow a specific and specialized

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treatment process to rehabilitate them.

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So the first is the initial

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assessment and stabilization.

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So they look at the physical examination.

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So vets check for injuries, infections,

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dehydration and other health concerns.

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They look for vital signs.

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So they'll say like they'll assess the

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turtle's body temperature, their heart

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rate, their respiration.

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They'll look to do a warming process.

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So they'll start to warm these animals up

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one to two degrees Fahrenheit or 0.5 to

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one degrees Celsius per day.

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So they don't prevent a shock because you

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can't go from heat to cold.

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We know that shocks them and the cold

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right back to heat again.

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You got to do that over a number of day

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process and that can take a long time.

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So it's done in a controlled indoor pools

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and dry holding areas.

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So the medical treatment, sometimes they

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require fluids and electrolytes because

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dehydrated turtles will receive these

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through intravenous or subcutaneous

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injections to restore hydration.

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And then there's antibiotics and

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medications that are given if they have

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infections, pneumonia or any other types

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of injuries, they receive antibiotics or

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other medications that will treat those.

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Some of them will go

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through oxygen therapy.

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So some of the turtles with respiratory

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distress will be given

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oxygen support if necessary.

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And then the

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rehabilitation takes some times.

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There's gradual water reintroduction.

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So once stable, the turtles will be

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placed in shallow, warm water to regain

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some of that muscle strength.

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Then they'll be monitored as they ensure

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that they can swim properly and dive

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properly because that's an important part

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of their life history

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and their life cycle.

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And then the behavior assessments, the

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look at the turtles, they must show that

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they have normal behaviors like diving,

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eating and responding to

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stimuli before they are released.

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And once they're released back into the

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wild, they'll make sure they have a

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health care clearance.

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So they have the only healthy, strong

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turtles are released showing all this

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stuff that we just

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talked about previously.

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So they can go back

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and warm and safe waters.

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They're going to get tagged and they're

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going to get tracked.

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So some turtles will receive satellite

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and flipper tags to help scientists

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monitor their movements

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and survival post release.

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I did an episode on this a while ago, a

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link to it in the show notes.

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But I talked to Dr. Nathan Robinson, who

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did a study just off the coast of Rhode

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Island with cold sun turtles.

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And they noticed that with the tracking,

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they could actually tell

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where these turtles go.

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And if they look like they're still in

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distress, they can go out, find these

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turtles, bring them back.

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Although it doesn't

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happen often, it can happen.

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And it's always good to get the turtle

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back in, reassess it, put it back through

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the rehabilitation process and determine

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whether and if it can be

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released at a later date.

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And I think that's really important.

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They'll be careful

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selection of the release location.

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So obviously turtles are released in

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warmer waters to prevent

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another cold stunning event.

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I know in Florida,

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there's not a lot of coal.

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I know Florida doesn't really get a lot

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of cold spells, but with this winter, you

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don't really know what's going to happen.

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This could be a big problem for them.

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And so if another cold stunning happens

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or you need to get another cold spell, a

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polar vortex comes down again.

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We don't want these turtles

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to go through a deep freeze.

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So knowing where they are is really

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important, but also releasing them maybe

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a little bit more south where they can

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take a different travel plan.

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That would be really important.

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That's how the rehabilitation happens.

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It's a long process.

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It could take up to a couple of weeks,

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maybe in three, four

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weeks, maybe a month.

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There may be some turtles that may not be

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ready for quite some time

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to be released, if at all.

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That's the assessment

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of the veterinarians.

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That's the assessment of

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the healthcare providers.

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And I know the Logged Marine Life Center

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has done an excellent job in the past of

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helping these turtles out.

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And they're all about making sure that

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sea turtles are not only healthy and

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safe, but they're

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released in the proper areas.

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I'm going to put a bunch of organizations

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in the past that have

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helped with this type of stuff.

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Obviously, the Logged Marine Life Center

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is at the top of that.

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The New England Aquarium

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in Massachusetts helps.

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The Texas State

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Aquarium will also be involved.

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Sea Turtle Inc. in Texas is also involved

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in North Carolina Aquariums for Sea

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Turtle Assistant and

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Rehabilitation Center.

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Also known as STAR is also involved in

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these processes in different parts along

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the East Coast because we see this every

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once in a while along the East Coast,

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depending on where these cold snaps hit.

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Obviously, if you think of Massachusetts,

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if these sea turtles don't clear certain

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areas, they may have a

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problem with cold stunning.

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And we obviously

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don't want that to happen.

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Sea turtles are endangered species.

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They need to be protected.

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All seven species are endangered.

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Definitely need that protection.

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Marine protected areas can help.

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Tracking these sea turtles can help and

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also monitoring these

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cold snaps where they are.

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Sometimes you may not know they're in the

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ocean because it doesn't hit on land and

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being able to find where these sea

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turtles are or where the cold snaps are

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and monitor those situations to find more

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would be very helpful.

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That's it for today's episode.

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I want to give you this episode because I

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think it's really important to see

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hardworking people, volunteers, the

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Logged Marine Life Center in this

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situation, really

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helping out these sea turtles.

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I want to give a shout out to them and

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thank them for doing that as well as all

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the other people who involved in helping

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cold sun turtles in Texas, in

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Massachusetts and North

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Carolina and all over the coastline.

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It's really helpful

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that people are there.

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It saves these species and we need every

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single individual of these species to be

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saved as much as possible

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because they go through enough.

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That's it for today's episode.

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If you have any questions or comment, put

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them in the comments below.

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If you're on YouTube or you're watching

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this on Spotify or if you're listening to

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01:07:54,916 --> 01:07:56,250
this on your favorite podcast app, you

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can hit me up on Instagram.

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That's it for today's episode.