257 cold-stunned sea turtles treated at New England Aquarium this season

QUINCY, Mass. (WLNE) — The Massachusetts Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and the New England Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital have collaborated in rescuing over 200 cold-stunned sea turtles this season.

According to the New England Aquarium, sanctuary staff and volunteers have patrolled Cape Cod beaches in search of the turtles, and transported them to the Sea Turtle Hospital.

These animals are then treated for life-threatening medical conditions due to hypothermia and the inability to feed.

257 sea turtles have been rescued this season, including 214 endangered Kemp’s ridley turtles, 39 green turtles and four loggerheads.

100 of these turtles were rescued over the Thanksgiving weekend.

“With winds increasing and temperatures dropping, we have started to see more sea turtles enter the hospital in the last week. The New England Aquarium has developed ways to streamline intakes of these large numbers of patients, allowing us to give the best possible care to all of the turtles that enter our hospital,” said Adam Kennedy, the Aquarium’s Director of Rescue and Rehabilitation.

The mass beaching of cold-stunned turtles is an annual occurrence, always happening around this time of year.

If you would like to contribute to the rescue, rehab and research efforts of these organizations, you can visit this website.