Winter is coming to the Northeast, and once again scores of sea turtles are stranding on the beaches from New Jersey to Cape Cod, and in need of transport to warmer climes. For several years, Leslie Weinstein, of Idaho, has been working to organize volunteer aviation efforts to help these creatures, and this year he is again looking for pilots who are willing to fly the turtles to rehab centers in the South. Recently, he helped to find a ride for a 280-pound turtle with a shell that was 49 inches across. A crate was found to carry the turtle, and a Cessna Caravan was found to carry the crate — but then the crate wouldn’t fit through the cargo door, and the volunteers had to build a new one.
“This was the easy part to resolve,” says Weinstein. “Maintaining temperature between 70 to 75 degrees was a factor, as was cushioning for the turtle in order to breathe, as they cannot be contained on a hard surface.” Three turtles were transported successfully to a rehab center in Beaufort, North Carolina, thanks to the volunteers’ efforts. They would not have survived ground transportation, Weinstein said. The sea turtle stranding season runs through the end of December, Weinstein said, and more volunteer pilots are needed. Weinstein can be reached via Facebook at “Sea Turtle Rescue Flights.”
