That鈥檚 the highest number of sea turtle strandings the state has seen in any given year, and twice what the state has recorded in previous years.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a seasonal thing,鈥� said Jim Rice, program manager at Oregon State University鈥檚 Marine Mammal Stranding Network. 鈥淒uring the winter months, in particular, we tend to see sea turtles succumbing to hypothermia.鈥�
During warmer seasons, different sea turtle species forage hundreds of miles off the West Coast. When temperatures decrease, these turtles typically migrate to warmer waters farther south. If they don鈥檛 move in time, colder ocean temperatures can force their bodies into a hibernation state.
Although they might appear to be dead, turtles that wash up on the beach might simply be in a cold shock 鈥� though the two found last week did not survive.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e cold-blooded, so they鈥檙e able to survive for a really, really long time,鈥� said Jim Burke, director of animal care at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. 鈥淏ut they鈥檙e very much victims of the waves and the currents, and eventually they get pushed onto the beach.鈥�
The most recent turtle showed up on Sunset Beach in Clatsop County around Dec. 30. In a post on social media, staff with the Sunset Aquarium said the 40-pound Olive Ridley sea turtle was found dead.
A few days earlier, a Loggerhead sea turtle washed up on Short Beach in Tillamook County. were able to transfer the turtle to the Oregon Coast Aquarium鈥檚 rehabilitation center, but Burke said it didn鈥檛 survive.
In a post on , staff with the Seaside Aquarium said the most recent strandings were likely due to a storm system moving up from the south. Winds can drive warm water currents 鈥� and foraging sea turtles 鈥� farther north and closer to shore than normal, the staff wrote. When the weather suddenly changes and temperatures drop, the turtles are then left stranded in cold water.
A similar phenomenon is happening on the , where hundreds of cold-stunned sea turtles can wash ashore in a matter of days. Researchers there have tied the occurrence to climate change.
Rice and Burke aren鈥檛 sure why there were a high number of sea turtle strandings in Oregon last year, or why the phenomenon appears to be happening more frequently in the last two decades.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to speculate about the ocean conditions because it鈥檚 such a dynamic place,鈥� Burke said.
Oregon usually sees three kinds of turtles 鈥� Olive Ridley, Loggerhead and green turtles 鈥� and all are federally listed as either threatened or endangered species.
Rice said the increase in strandings could indicate that their populations are increasing. Burke said there could simply be more people documenting and reporting sea turtles strandings with smartphones, compared to previous decades.
People who find sea turtles stranded on a beach can report them to the Oregon State Police at 800-452-7888, or call a federal hotline at 866-767-6114, which is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries office.
鈥淒o not touch the turtle, and certainly do not put it back into the water,鈥� Rice said. 鈥淚f you put a live turtle that you see on the beach back into the ocean, it鈥檚 most likely just going to suffer longer and it鈥檚 not going to survive out there.鈥�
