BOSTON — Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is hosting a media event Monday at 8 a.m. for the embarking of 85 endangered sea turtles found stranded off New England's coast.
Animal caregivers from Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary rescued the cold-stunned turtles from along the Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay shoreline where, following ocean currents southward, they became trapped in the cold water along the cape.
The turtles are presently at the New England Aquarium's Aquarist Animal Care Center in Quincy, Massachusetts. A Coast Guard HC-144A Ocean Sentry aircrew will transport the turtles to Gulfport, Mississippi, where they will go to several rehabilitation facilities before being released back into the wild.
WHO: Crews from the U.S. Coast Guard, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, and New England Aquarium
WHAT: Endangered sea turtles transported from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to Gulfport, Mississippi.
WHERE: Air Station Cape Cod, 3172 Herbert Rd. Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, entering through the Sandwich Gate on Snake Pond Road in Sandwich, Massachusetts.
WHEN: Monday - media is requested to arrive at the Sandwich gate no later than 7 a.m. to be escorted on the base.
Editors Note: Media wishing to attend must RSVP with the 1st District Public Affairs office at (917) 703-0983 by 5 p.m. Sunday to gain access to the base. Media are invited aboard the flight, but space is limited to two media. If multiple media members are interested in attending the flight, a media pool will be established.