In October 2023, a young Kemp’s ridley sea turtle was found entangled in a net off the coast of the Netherlands — over 5,000 miles from her home waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
She was named “Boeier” (pronounced boo-yare), after the commercial fishing boat that found her.
After she was rescued, Boeier was immediately transported to the Rotterdam Zoo so that she could receive medical treatment for minor injuries.
Now, a year after she was discovered, she’s fully recovered and returning home.
Mary Kay Skoruppa — who works for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as a sea turtle coordinator — said that Rotterdam Zoo gave Boeier the best care possible in the past year. During that time, the FWS coordinated with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora to bring her home.
“We are so happy that Boeier was rescued, rehabilitated and deemed healthy enough to release so that she can rejoin the reproductive population and potentially contribute to the recovery of the species,” Skoruppa said in a press release.
“An added benefit is the opportunity to increase the Service’s and NOAA Fisheries’ knowledge about survival and movements of juvenile Kemp’s ridley sea turtles that strand in areas far outside of their normal migration routes.”
At the end of October, Boeier was flown across the Atlantic to the Houston Zoo.
But before Boeier officially returns home to the Gulf on November 4, she will be cleared by veterinarians and attached with a tracking device by the staff at Texas A&M University at Galveston’s Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research.
This way, if Boeier wanders far again, the center can keep an eye out for her. This measure is crucial, considering Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are considered one of smallest — and most endangered — sea turtles in the world.
The species is largely found in the Gulf of Mexico, but some turtles — like Boeier — have been carried across the Atlantic by the powerful force of the Gulf stream.
According to biologist Cynthia Rubio, who works for FWS’ Texas coastal and central plains ecological services field office, Boeier’s grand ocean trek is becoming more and more of a common occurrence.
“We are starting to see more juvenile Kemp’s ridleys off the east coast, and due to climate change the warmer water is pulling them into the Atlantic,” Rubio said.
“I would bet that Boeier is probably one of those juveniles that was trapped there and drifted across the Atlantic.”
In fact, when Boeier was first rescued last October, she was discovered around the same time that one Kemp’s ridley sea turtle and seven loggerhead sea turtles washed up, cold-stunned, on Dutch beaches.
Last year, the Anglesey Sea Zoo in North Wales also saved two stranded Kemp’s ridleys. They’ve since been returned to the Gulf of Mexico after they were released in Galveston, Florida.
Ultimately, Skoruppa hopes that Boeier’s story brings attention to the way climate change has impacted this vulnerable species — in addition to threats they face from commercial fishing and plastic pollution.
“When you have an endangered species, every individual counts,” Skoruppa emphasized.
“In addition to working with a great group of international partners dedicated to recovering sea turtles, turtles like Boeier help to educate and spread the word about what everyone in the public can do to help these imperiled species.”
Header image via U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
