Sick, cold, or injured animals are immediately placed in a rehabilitation program with the intent of getting them well enough to be returned to their natural habitat. Often the animals are tagged with a transmitter for future tracking. Some of the large marine animals that are regularly tracked along the Atlantic coast are cetaceans, pinnipeds, and sea turtles. Every acknowledged animal sighting is assigned a number and becomes part of the database for that species. If the animal requires treatment of an injury or disease, it may be given a temporary tank to live in until it can recuperate and be returned to the wild.
Sea turtles make up another group of marine animals that become stranded along the Atlantic coast.
Turtle species are of particular interest because they are either endangered or threatened worldwide. In the days of the great sailing ships, these large reptiles often found their way into the cook's stewpot. Their heavy shell or carapace was a treasured source of decorative shell. Even in recent decades, their eggs have been plundered for food. Stranded sea turtles are sometimes reported up and down the Atlantic coast as well as on the Gulf Coast.