In this Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012 photo, a rescued loggerhead turtle swims under its reflection in a tank at the New England Aquarium’s Animal Care Center in Quincy, Mass. (Photo: AP)
More than two dozen sea turtles described by the Associated Press as “stressed” by cold ocean waters have been airlifted from New England to balmy Florida.
The Coast Guard flew the turtles to Orlando on Friday, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (the federal agency that apparently oversees sea-turtle protection) reportedly arranged the flight. The Daytona Beach News Journal reports that 20 turtles were taken to SeaWorld Orlando, five loggerhead turtles were taken to the Volusia County Marine Science Center, and three other facilities in Florida also took in the displaced creatures.
A New England Aquarium spokesman says a record number of endangered and federally protected sea turtles have been treated this year for cold stress. Not willing to take any chances, The Daytona Beach News Journal adds that some are being treated at a separate $4.5 million “state of the art” facility.
“Taxpayers decided with the Endangered Species Act that they wanted the federal government to protect endangered species,” spokesman Tony LaCasse said.
He added: “A great majority of the resources and money used to take care of these turtles is raised privately.”
SeaWorld officials say an unseasonably warm November delayed the turtles’ exit from Cape Cod Bay this year. When water temperatures suddenly dropped, the turtles developed hypothermia and washed ashore, prompting the crisis.
The turtles will be returned to their natural habitat when water temperatures are warmer.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Comments (79)
Uechi
Dec. 8, 2012 at 8:21pmWhen are these bleeding heart morons going to understand that Mother Nature is a lot better at regulating species then we are. It is the height of arrogance to think that we can somehow change the course of nature or evolution. Species come and go throughout history. The path we are on will lead to our own demise. Turtles of various type have been around since the age of Dinosaurs. Do really think we are going to change species outcomes?
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nzkiwi
Dec. 8, 2012 at 8:33pmI was thinking to comment in exactly the same way as I read the story, Uechi. Therefore, your comment shows considerable wisdom… :)
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DadRocked
Dec. 8, 2012 at 9:42pmCan’t fool Mother Nature…
“from New England to balmy Florida”
Stupid… balmy Florida? I lived there for 9 yrs…
It’s December… Balmy? NOPE!
In January, tourist wore shorts but complained that it was cold…
It was 60ºF at best… We wore sweatshirts and long pants…
Balmy? Sure it is… and ONLY 20 turtles “…being treated at a separate $4.5 million “state of the art” facility.” What the hell is that…
Quit messing with the eco-cylcle you maroons !
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stopprintn
Dec. 8, 2012 at 10:26pmCan we get a laugh out of this….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eScDfYzMEEw
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AntonW
Dec. 9, 2012 at 9:59amUechi, the population of these turtles has been decimated by us. If we can save these 20, it’s the right thing to do. I’m glad they were saved.
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DadRocked
Dec. 9, 2012 at 10:07amstopprintn – I clicked at saw where the link went.
I know that bit oh so well…
For a lib, George Carlin was a good and decent man.
Funny thing about him and his dry wit… It was usually over the typical libs head to understand.
RIP Mr. Carlin…
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yougottabekidding
Dec. 9, 2012 at 1:41pmI’m a tax payer and I don’t remember voting to fly turtles south!
I’m a one of a kind and am stressed by the cold call in the coast guard
We protect birds under the migratory species act that go no where
And fly into planes, crap all over our parks so we can not enjoy
them.
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banjarmon
Dec. 9, 2012 at 5:59pmDown here in Florida we are under stress from the Snowbirds and the illegals all over the place!!!!
PLEASE SEND THEM BACK!!!!
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stumpy68
Dec. 9, 2012 at 8:40pmThere is 3 inches of ice on the pond here i keep my house under 65
because of the price of kerosene (fuel oil freezes) can i get a lift to Florida???
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pbrenda51
Dec. 10, 2012 at 11:55amreminds me of Glenns new book, Agenda 21…..where the animals were protected and worshipped, even at the expense of the human population!!
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Lovehammered
Dec. 8, 2012 at 8:02pmHey!!! It’s cold here, and I am stressed over it! How about flying me to Florida? Bunch of freaking morons!
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Keatonc33
Dec. 9, 2012 at 3:55pmare you cold blooded?
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Welcome Black Carter
Dec. 9, 2012 at 6:41pmNatural selection is no longer in control in humans. You can see the damage that has done to the country every day.
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Stelex
Dec. 8, 2012 at 8:01pmAccording to some articles I’ve read, it makes perfect sense that the Earth gets colder during Global Warming…..It’s quite logical actually …… so they say. Makes perfect sense. For someone to question cooling during Global warming just shows there pathetic ignorance and proves they are nothing but knuckle draggers. Personally I cook all my meals in the freezer, and store all my meats in the oven. Up is down, left is right, right is wrong…..god I love progressivism
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old construction worker
Dec. 8, 2012 at 7:59pmYum- turtle soup
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Eastinfection
Dec. 8, 2012 at 9:39pmTURTLE SOUP: Ingredients:
1-1/3 pounds turtle meat
4-1/2 cups water
2 medium onions
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
5 tablespoons butter, cubed
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons tomato puree
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup chicken broth
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice
Directions:
In a heavy 4-qt. saucepan, bring turtle meat and water to a boil. Skim off foam. Chop 1 onion and set aside. Quarter the other onion; add to saucepan along with cayenne pepper and salt. Cover and simmer for 2 hours or until the meat is tender. Remove meat with a slotted spoon and cut into 1/2-in. cubes; set aside. Strain broth and set aside. Rinse and dry saucepan; melt butter over medium-high heat. Cook chopped onion until tender. Add flour; cook and stir until bubbly and lightly browned. Whisk in reserved broth; cook and stir until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in tomato puree and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add chicken broth, eggs, lemon juice and meat. Simmer for 5 minutes or until heated through. Serves 6.
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RED_JOHN
Dec. 9, 2012 at 5:59pmSounds delicious!!!
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c.parker
Dec. 8, 2012 at 7:49pmYup, let’s freeze military pay raises but fly turtles to Florida?!?!? Ahhhh!!!!!! Nothing more to say….too irritated.
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noslave
Dec. 8, 2012 at 7:27pmwhile grandmothers are freezeing their azz off,eating cat food to survive on obamas soc security big $20 COLA INCREASE?? he flies turtles to vacation in florida??gives cell phones,etc. to his supporters?? YEAH OBAMA YOUR PRIORITYS ARNT FLUKED UP??
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Lt_Scrounge
Dec. 8, 2012 at 10:05pmDon’t forget that he intends to impose regulations that will cause their energy bills to necessarily skyrocket, while appointing bureaucrats to determine if they get life saving surgery or a pain pill.
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WiredRight
Dec. 8, 2012 at 7:19pmThem turtles have better healthcare coverage than any of us under Obama-care.
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Dan
Dec. 8, 2012 at 7:15pmWhiskey
Tango
FOXTROT!!!!!
Over.
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Disgusted_in_CT
Dec. 9, 2012 at 8:50amAlpha
Mike
Echo
North
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OldSurfRat
Dec. 8, 2012 at 6:49pmDamn it you right wing fools global warming is freezing these poor turtles to death.
Quick we must do something to stop global warming you right wing radicals!!!!
Uhmmmmm…… Wait a minute…… Hey…….uhhhhh…….Never Mind……..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3FnpaWQJO0
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progressiveslayer
Dec. 8, 2012 at 6:59pmLet’s ask Al Gore what could be the problem here,Al pull your head out we have some questions on this issue.
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JACKTHETOAD
Dec. 9, 2012 at 6:22amShame on you Proggie. Slangin’ the Turtles like that.
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progressiveslayer
Dec. 8, 2012 at 6:47pmMust be that dreaded global warming that’s chillin the turtles,clearly new regulations are the answer here,a carbon tax will solve all our problems.
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rickroland
Dec. 8, 2012 at 6:45pmYou know, while their at it, they might as well just fly all of the victims of Sandy down to Florida too, I am sure they are stressed from the cold as well. It’s not like borrowed money is no object at all, or sense, with our Federal government.
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OldSurfRat
Dec. 8, 2012 at 6:51pmHey Rick
Hush your mouth!!!!!!
We already have 1/2 of NJ here already (:
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Eastinfection
Dec. 8, 2012 at 9:43pmLOL SURF…
Ever see the South Park episode where they were taken over by Jersey until AlQuida saved them… & just as they were giving an award to BinLaden seal-team 6 whacked him? funniest shart ever!
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Mudd
Dec. 8, 2012 at 6:23pmHey, I’m cold too!
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louie louie
Dec. 8, 2012 at 6:17pmWe’ve had unseasonably warm weather here where I live, and I missed my chance to migrate south for the Winter. Now it’s snowing and I’m stressed out from the cold. I think the government should fly me to Orlando, too, just until it warms up and I’ve had a chance to recuperate. Come on, I could go extinct any day now!
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Lt_Scrounge
Dec. 8, 2012 at 10:11pmYeah. I had a vacation scheduled for a conference in Orlando in September. Because of government policies, I couldn’t afford the gas for the drive. Now I find out that they spent millions of tax dollars to fly some turtles to Florida.
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thegreatcarnac
Dec. 8, 2012 at 6:10pmIf you talk to a lot of homeless people in New york city you will discover that cold weather distresses them also. Next the feds will be flying plane loads of homeless down to set on the beach in Florida for the winters; then fly them back for the summer. Anything to waste money.
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bluegrandma52
Dec. 8, 2012 at 8:05pmNah, they’re not going to fly any human to Orlando. Animals are SO MUCH more important than mere humans! Just ask any PETAnut. People can just freeze in the dark and the cold, serves them right, the selfish species-centric creatures. No regard for the vastly more important non-human species that inhabited this globe long before the nasty, dirty, resource-hogging humans showed up. Don’t you realize your place in the liberal scheme of things?
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thegreatcarnac
Dec. 9, 2012 at 12:23amYeah…you might be right. However…we all know that minorittes and homeless people are much above regular people.
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Lloyd Drako
Dec. 8, 2012 at 6:07pmGet them wet suits and throw them back into the ocean. Put trackers on the wet suits so that when the water warms again, you can locate and undress them. Problem solved.
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neverending
Dec. 8, 2012 at 6:06pmWas waiting to read the part in the story that said they were flown by air force one! Would not surprise me.
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Leveraction3030
Dec. 8, 2012 at 8:28pmSorry that would not happen. The OBas^ard family is having it prepped for their $ 5 million dollar Hawaii vacation paid for with our tax dollars. Plus, that would be beneath their dignity to share a ride with such creatures.
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1TrueOne55
Dec. 8, 2012 at 6:04pmApparently survival of the “Fittest” is an abject failure or EPIC FAIL. And why are they not being put back into natures warmer waters off the Florida coast immediately? Hypothermia is a condition not a disease and when their body temps where corrected, probably before the flight to Florida. They should have been either tagged immediately and released. They should not be sent to animal Guantanamo at any facility. (LMAO)
If these “Bleeding Hearts” of the animal species really cared they would have let them alone. That is what they have put others in jail for when they find an injured animal not knowing its on the endangered species list.
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BOGOTSTOGO
Dec. 8, 2012 at 7:52pmWell said! Survival of the fittest only works in the classroom during liberal brainwashing sessions. in obamas America survival depends on government handouts and new laws
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pyeatte
Dec. 8, 2012 at 5:55pmMust be that global warming again.
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HigherRoad
Dec. 8, 2012 at 5:50pmIn addition to the yearly “snow birds” from the East who winter in Florida, the state will now get the snow turtles. The snow birds contribute to the economy, but not so sure about the snow turtles. I think they might be part of the entitlement bunch!
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70S_KIDS_FIGHTING_SOCIALISM
Dec. 8, 2012 at 5:44pmA Government with a God complex is going to do plenty of destruction. They MUST be stopped!!!!!! Its time to tag and cage liberals like the animals they are.
TEA PARTY UNTOUCHABLES!!!!!!!!
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barber2
Dec. 8, 2012 at 5:36pmAnd we wonder why we $16 trillion dollars in the hole…. talk about stressed…
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TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
Dec. 8, 2012 at 6:19pmPETA. People Eating Tasty Animals. These turtles could have been donated to NYC / Long Island. Obama and Bloomberg could serve up some tasty turtle soup to the still suffering Sandy residents…
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DZ-015
Dec. 8, 2012 at 5:36pmNo death panel for turtles?
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JACKTHETOAD
Dec. 9, 2012 at 6:24amDeath cab for cutie? Sorry. Wrong mental thread.
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progressiveslayer
Dec. 8, 2012 at 5:35pmWell when you’re wasting other peoples money it’s so easy.
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djmaine
Dec. 8, 2012 at 5:28pmNow we are using government assets to save wild animals? Let darwin take care of them.
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The-Monk
Dec. 8, 2012 at 5:24pmBut, but, but….. the Oceans are warming ????? LOL
stopprintn
Dec. 8, 2012 at 5:38pmHow is Algore going to explain this one?
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The-Monk
Dec. 8, 2012 at 5:52pmHi stopprintn,
I don’t know.
Lets go over to his $9M beach front (sea-level) mansion and ask him…. LOL
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RJJinGadsden
Dec. 8, 2012 at 6:39pmHi MONK, Heck, if the cold within their natural environment stressed them, just think of what the take off and landing did. Wonder if their ears popped too? I also wonder if any died while en route?
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The-Monk
Dec. 8, 2012 at 6:46pmHi RJJ,
I don’t know. But that’s a very good question.
I haven’t seen that advertising troll tonight yet.
I wonder if he took the night off. LOL
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