Cold Stunning and the Importance of the Riverhead Foundation
by Kaitlyn Fenster
As someone who used to volunteer at the Riverhead Foundation, I did have some previous knowledge of how the process of rehabilitating cold-stunned sea turtles works before we came here for class. Cold stunning causes sea turtles to become immobile due to a decrease in the water temperature. Sea turtles around Long Island’s waters that have not yet migrated south by October or November, when the water reaches about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, can often find themselves in this unfortunate situation. The rescue and rehabilitation team from the foundation uses three tests to determine the degree of severity that a turtle is cold stunned, these are the nose-touch test, the head-lift test, and the eye-touch test, all of which test the turtle’s responsiveness. There are four different classes of cold stunning, with class 1 being the least severe and with class 4 being the most; during the most extreme case, the animal does not move and its body is very limp. Fortunately, the Riverhead Foundation has had a lot of success in rehabilitating cold stunned turtles. The turtles are placed on hot pads and under heating lamps and are also given antibiotics and fluids. It is important that cold stunned sea turtles are warmed very slowly. In the past, the normal procedure was to warm the turtle at about 2-4 degrees an hour; this can be very dangerous for the turtle as their brain and metabolic activities are not able to recover as quickly as their body is being reheated. Now, turtles are warmed by about 5 degrees per day, increasing their chance of surviving and being released back into the wild.
While I didn’t personally rescue turtles through the Riverhead Foundation, I was able to educate the public on how the foundation operates, something I really enjoyed. It was encouraging to see how many people cared about the fate of these turtles and all of the other animals that the foundation rescued. Visitors in the foundation’s center could view the patients through video monitors in the back of the animal hospital and enjoyed hearing about their progress. Sometimes, patrons would purchase one of the stuffed animals in the center, the funds for which all went to purchasing supplies and food for the animals in the hospital. I would also inform people that they could virtually adopt one of the animals that the Riverhead Foundation had rehabilitated; the funds through adopting these animals are also used to help the foundation’s programs operate, including its response to animals that are stranded or cold stunned. The foundation not only educates those who visit the aquarium, but also participates in many community outreach events to spread awareness on a larger scale. I have volunteered for the foundation at Stony Brook’s Earthstock and an event in Southampton where we set up a booth and had many people come up to us asking questions about what we do. I would highly recommend becoming involved with this organization through volunteering or interning; it is very rewarding to know you are making an impact on the lives of these animals
My Internship Experience at RFMRP
by Gregory Paul
In the short time that I spent as an intern at the Riverhead Foundation, I can certainly say that I enjoyed every minute of it. Throughout my experience, I learned many new things and gained many skills that I can carry along with me into the field of marine science. Though it was technically sea turtle season while I was an intern, that aspect of the internship did not pick up until around Thanksgiving weekend. Regardless, there was still much to learn, and everything I did was valuable to keeping things organized and structured along with the rest of the RFMRP team.
The first thing I learned at the Riverhead Foundation was the Level A form and how they were filed, and transferring them onto the computer in .pdf format, since it was necessary that NOAA had the updated files. These forms were essentially logs for both live and dead sea turtle recoveries. I then learned how to feed the sea turtles., which involved slicing whole squid into bite-sized pieces. Medication was usually placed in the triangular piece at the tip of the squid’s head. There were three sea turtles present at the time of my internship, but it seems Chestnut is the only remaining sea turtle from my experience. Medusa, a seal with cataracts, was mentioned during the trip. I had the privilege of working with Medusa while she was still at the Riverhead Foundation, and I one of my responsibilities was performing water changes for her tank—one of my favorite tasks.
Towards the end of the internship, I did many more hands-on things that I can certainly say I enjoyed doing. The first of which was recovering a dead seal’s body from the beach. I was still shocked by how heavy it was and how difficult it was to carry both to the box truck, and from the box truck to the post room. I also had the privilege of seeing a giant, fully grown leatherback in person. I always found these turtles to be magnificent, and though it was dead, it was still a nice experience to take its body measurements. Lastly, I was trained for the procedure of rescuing dolphins and properly putting them in the stretcher, though I was never fortunate enough to put this training into practical use. The last few weekends of the internship I spent doing necropsies in the post room. Bad smells usually accompanied this task, but it was definitely one of the more interesting things I had to do at the Riverhead Foundation. I highly recommend interning for the Riverhead Foundation, as my time spent there has been extremely valuable!
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Figure 1 Chestnut swimming in his tank during the time of my internship. He was seen during the trip under a heat lamp to dry a honey treatment for his shell, a procedure which had not been started while I was an intern.
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Figure 2 Medusa playing with the stream of water that fills her tank during a routine water change. The brush is used to gently guide her back into the tank in case she jumps out during the water change. This was one of my favorite activities!
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| Figure 3 The deceased leatherback sea turtle I had responded to. It was found by a marina in East Moriches, where its body measurements were taken and incident code was spray-painted onto its shell. |
The Big Duck
by Zerfana Khan
Big Duck was built to attract people to the Maurer family Pekin duck farm. One way to attract people to an area, is to architecturally build something big and strange or with some relation to the business. Since 1931, the Big Duck has attracted many motorists passing by. Today there is a mini museum and gift shop inside for those who wish to stop and visit.
The construction of the Big Duck was created by George Reeve and brothers William Collins and Samuel Collins. They used an actual Pekin Duck to make an accurate model before building. The whole Duck is made out of solid concrete. In addition, the eyes of the Big Duck are from an old headlight of a Model T Ford. At night the eyes light up red, making the duck look a little creepy. The eyes and bulbs are still maintained.
Duck Farms contributed to a big part of the water quality issues on Long Island. Even though we no longer have duck farms on Long Island, we still have these water quality problems due to other factors. Nevertheless, duck farms definitely exacerbated those problems with water quality.
With the closing of duck farms, the Big Duck itself has been moved four times. It is now back in its original location. It is interesting to note that the Big Duck is technically located on Suffolk County property, regardless of it being in Southhampton. Suffolk County owns ten ft of the land surrounding the duck.
The end of duck farms on Long Island economically affected the restaurant and tourism industries. They look a direct blow with loosing local duck being served in restaurants. Tourism is big on the east end and having something local but not too local encouraged tourists to the area. Long Island duck is still available, but on a very small scale. Certainly not big enough for ducks to be served in restaurants consistently.
Saving Seals
by Genevieve Rappold
The Riverhead Foundation, located inside the Long Island Aquarium, has been there before the aquarium was even built. It was founded to help the many sea animals that wash up on our shores. They focus on a cycle of Rescue, Rehabilitation, Release, and Research. The foundation is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which regulates the way people must help animals to ensure the most successful survival rate. The Riverhead Foundation helps animals such as turtles, seals, dolphins, and porpoises. Some of the issues the animals face are due to the area we live in, and the striking changes in temperature we can experience. The other problems are more widespread. Some are natural like seal pox and natural disabilities, but others are man-made like pollutants and boat strikes.
Seals are a common visitor to the Riverhead Foundation. They have volunteers patrolling the beach and a hotline for anyone to call in case of a beached animal. Seals are especially difficult to bring in because they are heavy and can be quite aggressive. Once they are brought into the facility, they are brought into a room separated from the rest of the foundation in case of contagions. In this room, blood samples and x-rays can be taken to check the health of the animal. Anyone working with the seals must wear chainmail gloves to protect themselves from strong seal bites. The seals are assessed and if they are healthy, released back into the wild. If the seals are unhealthy, they are put into tanks personalized for their specific needs. The seals are then closely watched to determine when or if it can be released to the wild.
The most common seals around Long Island are Harbor Seals, Grey Seals, Harp Seals, and Hooded Seals. Seals can be found sick all year long, but February through May is especially bad for seal pups. This is the time of year children start losing their mothers and have to learn to live on their own, which is a very difficult and stressful process. The most common illnesses for seals are seal pox and influenza. Ice seals in particular like to eat ice in their native home of northern Canada, but end up eating rocks down here which can cause serious problems to the digestive system. A more human problem though is pollutants. Seals often mistake plastic and fish line for food, and even if they don’t eat it, they can get wrapped up in it and be unable to swim. To further the problem, boats sometimes hit these animals, especially when constrained by plastic, and cause permanent damage to them. This is just to say, it’s not just the foundation’s job to protect the animals, but ours as well.
Chestnut the turtle
by Emily Kollmer
The aquarium in Riverhead is a major attraction for lots of folks. There are plenty of cool fish to visit, some cool sharks, a place to pet some rays, and even a few birds which you can feed. I personally spent a semester here at the aquarium for a class I took, so I know the place inside and out. I have my favorite exhibits, but without a doubt I can say that Chestnut the turtle is my favorite resident at the Aquarium.
Chestnut is a green sea turtle that made his way to the aquarium via the Riverhead Foundation. Many people who have been to the aquarium know about the foundation because it is one of the last exhibits as you leave. The Foundation does a lot of great work rehabilitating sick and injured seals, turtles, and cetaceans. So when someone found Chestnut washed up on Jones Beach in 2010, they called Riverhead Foundation.
The diagnoses didn’t look good for Chestnut. The poor little dude had been struck by a boat and was all torn up. Not only was Chestnut’s shell severely damaged, the boat had chopped off the tip of one of the front flippers. The wonderful people at the Foundation did a good job taking care of Chestnut and for the most part, Chestnut got better. The shell healed and closed up and the flipper healed up just fine. At this stage, the Foundation considers releasing the turtles back into the wild. It soon became apparent that this wasn’t an option for Chestnut.
Chestnut has what the workers at the foundation like to call “bubble butt.” When Chestnut’s shell healed, a bit of air got trapped inside. This makes the shell really buoyant; Chestnut’s butt floats. This makes it really difficult for Chestnut to swim at any kind of depth or even breath at the surface. If Chestnut wants to take a breath, they have to crane their neck at a strange and uncomfortable angle. It is because of this unfortunate diagnoses of bubble butt that Chestnut was deemed unreleasable. Now Chestnut lives as a permanent resident at the Riverhead Aquarium where they can be taken care of by the wonderful staff who take care of Chestnut’s every need. If you want to adopt Chestnut, you can do it on their website! Chestnut has become a favorite for many and continues to use their charm to steal the hearts of everyone who visits him.
In this picture, Chestnut is getting a treatment to help fix their shell.
Fish Ladders – No better place to learn than out in the field
by Josh Farber
In between our visits to the Riverhead Foundation and the Big Duck, our class stopped at a boat launch on the Peconic River in Calverton. These stops, which always incorporate a short lecture by Professors Rider and Bretsch, are common on our Friday field trips, and provide a learning experience that you don’t get in the classroom.
At this spot, located in a rural area within earshot of the Long Island Expressway, featured a fish ladder that was installed last year by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. In the roughly 20 minutes we spent at the site, our class learned about two aquatic species that migrate up and down the Peconic River: Alewife and American Eel.
Alewife migrate up the river to spawn in the shallow headwaters of the Peconic, while the eels live in fresh water but migrate downriver to spawn in Peconic Bay. Once the eels spawn, the adults die off and the young swim back upriver.
A series of old dams, including one at the site we visited in Calverton, proved to be an insurmountable obstacle for the fish and eels trying to swim upriver. The new fish ladders, including a special one for eels, will help to restore upwards of 20 miles of important habitat along the river. Until two more dams between Calverton and Riverhead are removed, alewife won’t be able to utilize the new ladder, but dam removal is in the works and the fish will be able to finally swim further west than Riverhead before too long.
These short lectures at different sites are always one of my favorite parts of the Friday field trip class. Whether it be at this boat launch in Calverton, on a pier in Sag Harbor, under a pavilion on the Port Jefferson waterfront or on a dock in Sayville, little tidbits of knowledge about maritime history and environmental conservation never fail to make their way into my notebook. Each lecture is connected to the spot we visit, which provides a much more engaging learning experience than if we had been exposed to the same content in a classroom.
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| The newly installed fish ladders on the Peconic River in Calverton, just west of Edwards Avenue. The eel ladder is on the left, and the alewife ladder is on the right. |
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| Looking upstream of the dam and ladders |
