LISTEN: Rare hybrid sea turtle, part-loggerhead and part-Kemp's ridley, returns to the ocean after six months of rehabilitation. GPB's Jillian Magtoto reports.
When the first cold snap of winter hits the hook of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, sea turtle rescuers get busy.
"When sea turtles start to get really, really cold, and they start swimming south, a lot of times they will get caught in that hook," said Jaynie Gaskin, director of the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island. "It usually ends up being at least hundreds, if not thousands that strand on the beach and need to be rescued."
The Georgia Sea Turtle Center took in nine of these stranded sea turtles for rehabilitation last winter, naming them after tea varieties such as Jasmine, Darjeeling, and Matcha.
But Gaskin and others noticed one of them looked a little odd. A hook at the tip of the beak and a round shell made it look like a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, while distinct ridges on its shell also indicated it could be a loggerhead.
Genetic testing proved that the turtle, named Earl Gray, was a rare product of both species, and the first confirmed hybrid the center has seen.
"It could be that there's hybrids out there," Gaskin said. "We're not sure, but I also do have a theory that this is something new that the turtles are doing to ensure the survival of their species."
Gaskin says that Kemp’s ridley turtles, the most endangered sea turtle species in the world, are picky. They like to forage on certain prey and nest in a limited area. But when mixed with a more generalist species, they might be able to widen their prey pool and broaden that range.
"Having loggerhead genetics…actually might be a strength for Earl Grey," Gaskin said.
After six months of rehabilitation and care, Gaskin returned Earl Grey to the Atlantic Ocean late last week, outfitted with satellite tracking tags.
