CLEARWATER, Fla. — Ten cold-stunned turtles arrived at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA) on Tuesday to receive care, only a small portion of the 100 that were transported to facilities in Florida and Mississippi.
CMA stated that hundreds of cold-stunned turtles wash up on the beaches of Cape Cod every year, with over 500 washing up this season alone. This is due to both the changing water temperature and wind pattern, which leaves many of them unable to escape Cape Cod Bay before becoming hypothermic.
Staff and volunteers of Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary patrol the beaches and transport the turtles they find to the New England Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital and the National Marine Life Center in Massachusetts for rehabilitation.
Once the facilities fill up to capacity, the turtles are sent to different organizations that can help with the rehabilitation process and make way for new patients.
The turtles CMA received are juvenile Kemp's ridley sea turtles, and they are the first group of cold stuns the aquarium has welcomed this season for care.
Watch the full video of their journey below, courtesy of the New England Aquarium.
