Tiny, endangered sea turtle found on Quebec’s Magdalen Islands for the first time

MONTREAL — One of the world’s smallest and most endangered turtle species was found on the shores Quebec’s Magdalen Islands last week in a first for the province.

The discovery of the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle has veterinarians and sea turtle conservationists worried many more of its kind will swim north because of climate change.

“Sometimes we see leatherback turtles, but these kinds of turtles are unheard of,” said veterinarian Jean-Simon Richard, who hails from the Magdalen Islands but spends much of the year outside the archipelago.

People on the islands sometimes call him when they find beached marine animals, usually dolphins, whales and seals.

But last Saturday he was contacted by someone who had found what Richard said is the most endangered sea turtle species in the world while walking on the beach of Grosse-Île, one of the islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

“We weren’t sure it was still alive or dead because sometimes they become a little paralyzed by the cold, hypothermic shock and it could take up to 24 hours before they are revived,” said Richard, who is also the president of Musée des Îles de la Madeleine, a mobile museum dedicated to the region’s archeological and natural history.

However, attempts to revive the turtle proved unsuccessful.

Richard believes the turtle swam probably further north because of warming water temperatures and likely died from hypothermia. The animal currently sits in a freezer and will be sent for a necropsy. After the cause of death is determined, its skeleton will feature in the museum.

It’s not the only animal from a tropical climate to wash up on the islands this year for the first time, he said, explaining that a bottlenose dolphin was found on the Magdalen Islands in July.

Kathleen Martin, executive director of the Canadian Sea Turtle Network, said the discovery is significant because Kemp’s ridley turtles, which typically migrate from the Gulf of Mexico, are in peril.

She said the species has been spotted in Southwest Nova Scotia and The Bay of Fundy but has never been found in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, alive or dead.

“It is highly unusual for that species to be so far north to be in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence at all, let alone that far north in the Gulf,” she said.

Although Martin cautioned against drawing definitive conclusions from a single carcass, she said the Canadian ecosystem will play a more critical role for sea turtle habitats going forward.

“We’re an important place for endangered sea turtles and we’ll become, I believe, increasingly important as the years go by because of climate change because the species will be pushing their ranges further and further north into Canadian waters,” said Martin.

“We’re going to see, I believe, more turtles like this little Kemp’s Ridley showing up. We’re going to have to do more to keep these animals safe.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2024.

Joe Bongiorno, The Canadian Press