Boo Boo, a 31-pound Kemp's Ridley turtle, swims in its tank at the Woods Hole Science Aquarium during more than a year of rehabilitation. (Credit: Shelley Dawicki, NOAA)

Dory, Boo Boo and Godzilla are not typical names for patients being treated for pneumonia and exposure to cold water, but these three are not typical patients. They are endangered sea turtles, and after spending months at the Woods Hole Science Aquarium recovering after being stranded on Cape Cod beaches over the past two winters, they are heading south to be released in the warm waters off Jekyll Island, Georgia.

"Most turtles head south before the weather turns cool in the fall, but almost every year some stragglers are 'cold-stunned' or hypothermic when the water temperatures fall in late October and November, and they drift ashore on Cape beaches," said Rachel Metz-Leland, senior aquarist at the Woods Hole Science Aquarium, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Northeast Fisheries Science Center's (NEFSC) laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. "They will die if they don't receive proper care to get them back into good health."

Boo Boo, a juvenile Kemp's Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) turtle, was found stranded at North Ryder Beach in Truro, Massachusetts on November 28, 2007. Dory, also a juvenile Kemp's Ridley, was found a few days later on December 1 at Great Island Gut in Truro. Godzilla, a sub-adult loggerhead (Caretta caretta), was found on November 29, 2008, at North Ryder Beach. The three turtles have spent the months since then recovering out of the public eye at the Aquarium, which helps rehabilitate sea turtles as space permits. The facility is also home to two nonreleasable harbor seals, LuSeal and Bumper.

"The turtles' names, based on cartoon characters, were chosen by the New England Aquarium, which coordinates the sea turtle stranding and rehabilitation effort, "Metz-Leland said. "They pick themes each year. Last year it was herbs and spices, so we had turtles here named Lavender and Cumin."

The Woods Hole Science Aquarium has been rehabilitating sea turtles since the 1990s and has helped care for 31 turtles to date: 16 Kemp's Ridley, 3 green, 5 loggerheads and 7 diamondback terrapins. The turtles receive regular veterinary care, and get much of their day-to-day care from the Aquarium staff and volunteers.

Boo Boo, Dory and Godzilla were packed into specially built crates April 28 for the trip by vehicle to the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island, Georgia, where they will be released offshore along with rehabilitated turtles from other New England facilities. Turtles are usually released in local Cape waters in July or August, but the water is too cold and the animals are ready to get back to the wild now.

When sea turtles are first found on the beach, they are sent to the New England Aquarium in Boston, which acts much like a hospital triage center. Their injuries and condition are determined, and they are slowly warmed and treated for pneumonia or any complications from stranding. Once they are stable and to free up hospital space, the New England Aquarium sends them to smaller facilities like the Woods Hole Science Aquarium to continue rehabilitation until they have regained full health and are ready to be released to the wild.

Metz-Leland said four species of sea turtles can typically be found in New England waters: green, Kemp's Ridley, leatherback, and loggerhead. Diamondback terrapins, a coastal turtle rather than a marine one and considered threatened under Massachusetts law, is found in marshes and estuaries.

The smallest of the sea turtle species, Kemp's Ridleys, are found in the north Atlantic from Florida to New England and in the Gulf of Mexico. Loggerhead turtles, found in temperate and tropical regions around the world and the most abundant sea turtle species in the U.S, range from Maine to Florida on the Atlantic coast.