Off-course loggerhead sea turtle rescued from beach in England

Feb. 6 (UPI) -- A loggerhead turtle was rescued when it washed up on a beach in northwestern England, far from the warmer waters where the species normally would be found.

Paul Knight of Walney Island said he was walking with his partner and his dog on the Earnse Bay beach when he came across what he initially thought to be a 4-foot-long dead turtle.

Knight called the Marine Conservation Society and was advised that the animal might still be alive and merely in a cold-stunned state.

He was instructed to stroke the reptile's eye, and doing so caused the turtle to start moving.

"When they're cold-stunned, they go really lethargic and shut down and sometimes they appear to be dead, so it's important to check for vital signs," Sarah Neill, Cumbrian marine biologist and regional coordinator for British Divers Marine Life Rescue, told CumbriaCrack.com.

A British Divers Marine Life Rescue medic was dispatched to the scene, and Knight helped carry the approximately 110-pound turtle to where the medic's vehicle was waiting.

Neill said the loggerhead is the first sea turtle found in Cumbia in about 10 years. She said the turtles normally stick to warmer waters but occasionally can get thrown off-course by severe storms.

"Their arrival is often associated with unusual weather conditions such as storms, and the turtles are usually in very poor health," Neill told The Mail. "They can be swept from warm waters by strong winds and currents into the north Atlantic Gyre, furthermore, their poor physical condition may impact on their navigational ability."

The turtle was taken to the Blackpool Sea Life Center, where it is slowly being warmed. Neill said warming a cold-shocked sea turtle too quickly can lead to infections and other potentially life-threatening consequences.