From the Flight Deck

As Jeff Corwin said – standing on the chilly, wind-blown ramp of Marshfield Municipal Airport as he prepared to commence filming – “I’ve produced a show or two on nature.”

Indeed, he has. From “Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin” to “Ocean Treks with Jeff Corwin” to the current “Wildlife Nation with Jeff Corwin” (all on ABC) to his brand-new show “Extraordinary World” set to premier next month on CBS.

Wildlife biologist Corwin, according to Variety’s announcement of the new show, “will team up with the Brady Hunter Foundation for ‘Extraordinary World’ to take viewers across the country and spotlight acts of compassion and generosity….” And what is the Brady Hunter Foundation? “The core of our mission is focused on our commitment to animals and children, and the welfare of the wonderful planet we live on. We are inspired by the good nature of others, and their fight to protect and improve the lives of our most vulnerable.”

And so it was that Corwin was about to start filming an episode of his new show right in his own hometown. Yes, Corwin – who grew up in nearby Norwell, Massachusetts – has made Marshfield his home for the past 20 years. He lives there with his wife and two daughters.

“We’re filming this amazing episode in my back yard,” he said. “It’s this incredible odyssey about these sea turtles that are rescued by the Sea Turtle Hospital with the New England Aquarium, and they themselves go on this incredible journey with this tapestry of connected conservationists all working together to save the sea turtles.”

“I love the fact that I live here, my daughters have gone through this school system, my wife volunteers at the food bank right down the street, we live locally, and to see my town be a part of this, and this beautiful little gem of an airport, I think it’s really cool,” Corwin continued. “It shows the power of community. And today, when we face so many challenges with the environment, this really is one little gem of a reward that shows there is a payoff.”

Putting the turtle rescue scene at GHG in perspective

Kate Sampson is the Sea Turtle Stranding and Disentanglement Coordinator for NOAA Fisheries and oversees stranding response and rehabilitation.

“Sea turtles are residents in this area only seasonally,” Sampson said. “They really should only be here during the summer and perhaps early fall. That’s when they forage coastally, along the bottom mostly. What we have here are Kemp’s ridleys, loggerheads and green sea turtles primarily. They’ll be here till the water temperature starts to cool down. The days start to get shorter and that signals to them they should migrate south. Any turtles in the Gulf of Maine will be traveling coastally to try to move to warmer southern waters. And, unfortunately, they end up sometimes bumping into Cape Cod. And Cape Cod is a perfect trap. The exit to Cape Cod is to the north, and that is contrary to their instincts; they want to go south.”

As the water temperature decreases, it gets too cold for them, and their body systems slow down, their immune system gets depressed, their heart rate and respiration rate slow down, and they stop eating. They can get infections, their body systems can’t function properly, and they get sick. They can’t swim anymore and eventually will wash up on shore.

They need to be rescued immediately, because the air temperature is colder than the water. They’re cold blooded, so their body temperature is the same as the surrounding environment. For example, if they’re sitting on a beach that’s 30 degrees, their body temperature is 30 degrees.

The Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is the responder along Cape Cod, Sampson said. They go out on proactive beach walks. They don’t wait for the turtles to be seen by somebody; they go looking for them. Hundreds of dedicated volunteers go out and walk the beaches to find the turtles, she said. They box them up and take them to one of rehabilitation facilities in the state – the New England Aquarium’s facility in Quincy and the National Marine Life Center in Buzzard’s Bay.

“Both facilities can stabilize the animals, warm them up slowly; they can give them medications and treat any injuries that they have,” Sampson said. But, there’s a but. “Unfortunately, these turtles will need weeks if not mostly months in order to get fully back to health and be released back into the wild. And we just don’t have the space in Massachusetts to care for all of those turtles.”

Turtles Fly Too pilot Ken Andrews, center, describes his role as a Turtles Fly Too pilot to wildlife biologist Jeff Corbin while filming for Corbin’s TV show “Extraordinary World” on CBS.

That’s where people like Ken Andrews come in. And organizations like Turtles Fly Too.

“I’ve been involved with Turtles Fly Too since 2015; it’s been almost a 10-year journey now,” Ken Andrews said while his plane was being fueled. Shoreline Aviation, which manages the airport, offers significantly discounted fuel prices and charges no ramp fees for turtle rescue pilots. And Shoreline staffers happily help load turtles onto the planes.

“It’s funny how I got involved. We were originally flying dogs and cats to no-kill shelters; my wife got us involved in that. Then one day I got this random email. It said something along the line of aviation organization seeks pilots to fly sea turtles. I thought that was the craziest thing I ever heard of. I sent it to my wife and said maybe you want to see what this is. She went to Facebook and signed us up, and about three weeks later we heard back from Leslie Weinstein, who founded the organization, and he asked, can you fly a mission, we need you this week, it was the craziest thing. We did that first mission, which was 52 sea turtles, which was the largest one in the history of Turtles Fly Too. And then I was asked to help run the organization, and the rest is history, 10 years later.”

Ken, based in Michigan, is VP of the nonprofit organization, which is based in Idaho. He flies from Michigan on missions all over the country.

“Today we’re starting here in Marshfield, we’re heading down to Long Island, and we have another stop in Pittsburgh this evening before finally heading back home,” he said. “We’ve done longer missions. We’ve done Marshfield to Atlanta to Biloxi to Dallas to Green Bay, all in one day.”

Marshfield Municipal Airport Assistant Manager Ben Garman hands a veggie box full of sea turtles to Turtles Fly Too pilot Ken Andrews’ father, to stow on the organization’s MU-2 dual turboprop aircraft.

A conservationist’s perspective

Corwin describes the changes in the local coastline that have resulted in turtles becoming trapped by the Cape and then becoming cold-stunned, calling for rescue and rehab efforts.

“We’re blessed in New England. We have extraordinarily well protected natural heritage that belongs to all of us who love the outdoors,” he said. “Our coastline has amazingly gone through its own story arcs, so if you were in these waters in the 1970s and ’80s they were not this beautiful and productive. Boston Harbor was one of the most polluted waterways in the world. Now it’s one of the cleanest. And this vibrancy of life, this healthy biological world has brought these turtles in to feed.”

And then comes climate change. The Gulf of Maine is the fastest warming body of water on our planet, Corwin said. So, the warmth extends the journey of feeding for sea turtles. But then eventually winter comes, and they can be trapped by the Cape, and they become cold stunned.

“Turtle rescuers on Cape Cod connected to the aquarium, and they were so overwhelmed by these patients that we’re now connecting to hospitals in Pittsburgh, hospitals where we’re going right now to Long Island,” Corwin said. “This network is working together to save these incredible sea turtles. I mean, New England gets to be part of a sea turtle story. I don’ think a lot of people would have thought of that.”

An “Extraordinary World” videographer captures Shoreline Aviation line team manager Steve Dery handing off a box of sea turtles to stow aboard the aircraft taking them to a new rehab facility.

What are the numbers that are so overwhelming?

“Our average number of turtles that cold stun each year is over 700,” Sampson said. “We’re over 500 right now, so we haven’t reached our average yet, so it’s been very busy with a lot of turtles coming in.

“All sea turtles are either threatened or endangered. They’re protected under the Endangered Species Act. That means their populations are reduced from healthy populations and they need our assistance to recover back to those nice healthy populations. Some of the reasons their numbers have been reduced are because of human activity. Fishing is a big issue, and habitat degradation. So, when they’re coming onshore to nest in the more tropical areas, those are areas where there’s a lot of development, the beaches are being reduced because the humans are taking over those spaces. So, there’s a lot of human impact to these turtles.”

Shoreline Aviation personnel prepare to lift a 120-pound loggerhead turtle and hand to NOAA Fisheries’ Kate Sampson and pilot Ken Andrews on board the aircraft.

These folks can’t do it alone

“We need people’s help,” Andrews said. “There’s a lot of people involved in this mission, at both ends. You’ve got the rescue facilities; you have the rehab facilities. At Turtles Fly Too we provide a critical link that gets the transportation done that moves these animals from point A to point B. If we weren’t doing what we do, then nobody else would be able to do what they do. But we’re the only organization that gets no funding. We’re an underfunded, zero funding organization, and we survive solely on donations. It’s critically important for us to get the word out; those donations are what keep us flying and what help keep these endangered sea turtles getting back to where they need to, to get back in the ocean.”

So, Corwin was going to hitch a ride on Andrews’ plane and continue filming to create awareness about all the above on his new TV show. It starts broadcasting right after the holidays. Be sure to watch for the loading scenes taking place at Marshfield Airport! And know that those Shoreline Aviation staffers will assist in more turtle rescue missions over the next couple of months.

“You can watch my new show on CBS Saturday right after the CBS Morning Show,” Corwin said. “I have a series currently on ABC, which is called “Wildlife Nation.” I’ll maintain that series, so I’ll have dueling series. I never thought I’d be in that place.”

You can read Wicked Local’s coverage of the event here. 

You can listen to excerpts from interviews with Corwin, Sampson and Andrews recorded by 95.9 FM WATD radio.

Rescued sea turtles stay warm in the NOAA Fisheries van at Marshfield Airport as they await being loaded by Shoreline Aviation staffers into a plane that will transport them to their next rehab facility.