Vancouver Aquarium treating tropical sea turtle rescued from B.C. beach

The Vancouver Aquarium is treating a sick sea turtle that was found Saturday on a B.C. beach — a long way from its home in the tropics.

Parks Canada officers saved the green sea turtle after it was spotted on Combers Beach, 21 kilometres south of Tofino, in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

The reptile, which was showing only occasional signs of movement in its head and flippers, was transported to Nanaimo and transferred to a team from the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Centre, which brought it back to the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre for treatment.

“Reptiles are cold-blooded and they completely depend on their external environment to control their body temperature,” Dr. Martin Haulena, head veterinarian at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre, said in a release. “When they get into water that’s too cold they get hypothermia, also known as cold-stunning. Everything slows down: heart, respiration rates, they can’t swim, they can’t forage — they get weaker and weaker.”

The aquarium says green sea turtles are a tropical species found in warmer waters around Mexico and Hawaii, but occasionally follow a warm current northward and end up in B.C. or even Alaska waters.

“It’s something we see more often during years with above-average sea temperatures, such as during an El Nino period,” said Haulena.

The turtle was admitted with a body temperature of 11.2 degrees Celsius. Along with receiving antibiotics and treatment for wounds, the turtle is slowly being warmed just a couple of degrees per day until it reaches a normal temperature of about 20 degrees Celsius.

The green sea turtle, which can reach 700 pounds and measure up to five feet long, is designated as endangered by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List.

Saturday’s sea turtle rescue follows a similar rescue from the same beach last Thursday, of a Guadalupe fur seal, another warm-water species stranded outside its normal range

“There has not been much improvement in his condition,” said Haulena. “He’s lethargic, emaciated; he’s still not interested in food. Historically, this species has a poor prognosis once stranded.”