A record number of juvenile turtles has washed ashore in Bermuda this winter.Usually one or two stranded loggerhead turtles are found on Bermuda’s coastline, having been caught up in seaweed.In the last two months 17 turtles have been brought to the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo (BAMZ).Among them were nine green turtles, a type that rarely, if ever, washes ashore in Bermuda.BAMZ curator Patrick Talbot said: “This season is proving to be highly unusual in that we have received 17 turtles in our Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre since September, all small, ranging in size from 6cm to 10cm shell length, 12 of which arrived in the last month alone.”Eleven of the 17 turtles seven green and four loggerhead were brought in alive but three succumbed to injuries shortly after.“One lucky green was pulled from the beak of a hungry heron by an observant rescuer,” Mr Talbot said.“The lucky ones owe their lives to members of the public who find them and have gone out of their way to get them to the aquarium quickly where they can be cared for until they are released.”The animals, many suffering signs of trauma, have been rescued all across the Island’s coastline, including North Shore, South Shore and Hamilton Harbour.Both green and loggerhead sea turtles are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.The Department of Conservation Services said they did not know why so many turtles have become stranded on the Island this winter, but said that an increase of green turtles nesting in Florida, along with the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, could be playing a part.A spokesman for the department said: “The number of nesting green turtles in Florida has risen dramatically over the last few years, and it is most likely that this increase has led to more young turtles making their way into the Atlantic and into the Sargasso Sea, via the Gulf Stream, where they spend a number of years in development.“Further, there could be a connection with the recent oil spill, where turtle species were translocated out of harm’s way to the east coast of Florida.”Once in the Sargasso Sea it is not uncommon for young turtles, which use the Sargasso as protection from predators in the open ocean, to get caught up in the rafts of seaweed that regularly wash up on Bermuda’s coasts.Coordinator of the Bermuda Turtle Project Mark Outerbridge said: “Sea turtles have a very complex life cycle, and spend different parts of it in different habitats.“These post-hatchling turtles hatched sometime last summer and it is expected that these little sea turtles will be out in the open ocean for the next four to 12 years growing, depending on the species, before passing on to the next stage in their development.”Once the animals are healthy they will be returned to the ocean so they can continue their development. Green turtles have been estimated to live as long as 80 years in the wild, while loggerhead turtles have a lifespan between 47 and 67 years.Persons who find a stranded turtle are asked to take it to BAMZ or telephone 293-2727 for assistance.