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Article Below (minus a few nice pictures)

An aquarium in Boston has been treating "cold-stunned" sea turtles stranded on US beaches. Experts urge the public not to return stranded animals into the water.

Over 150 sea turtles have received treatment this season for "life-threatening medical conditions" prompted by hypothermia in the New England Aquarium, based in the US city of Boston.

The aquarium officials said critically endangered species were also affected.

The animals, rescued by the volunteers working for the Massachusetts Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, included 120 critically endangered Kemp's ridley turtles and 33 green turtles.

"In years past, cold-stunned sea turtles would begin to wash ashore in late October," said the aquarium's director of rescue and rehabilitation, Adam Kennedy. This year, however, the stranding were only reported in the second half of November.

"Milder weather means the waters of Cape Cod Bay are staying warmer for a prolonged period of time, which we believe could be a sign of climate change's impact on the Gulf of Maine," Kennedy explained.

'Cold-stunning' explained

Hundreds of endangered and threatened sea turtles strand on the beaches of Cape Cod because of "cold-stunning" every fall. The Massachusetts Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary says cold-stunning occurs when the animals get trapped in Cape Cod Bay on the eastern US coast. They are then unable to move to warmer waters further south.

A volunteer holds a turtle lying on a towelA volunteer holds a turtle lying on a towel

The rescued animals included endangered Kemp’s ridley turtlesImage: Vanessa Kahn/New England Aquarium

The number of cold-stunned sea turtle strandings has increased from around 50 a year at the turn of the century to more than 700 in 2021, according to the New England Aquarium.

The animal sanctuary warned that sea turtles should never be returned to the water if discovered by members of the public in this area.

"When a sea turtle strands, it's very compromised and requires medical attention. They're not like seals — they don't bask on the beach. Returning a turtle to the water will very likely result in its death," program coordinator Jess Ciarcia said in a statement.

So sad we’re letting this happen. I hope they save as many as possible

Why is Steve Austin going around cold-stunning turtles

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The same article also says there is more stranding than in the past. So the stranding season being pushed back isn’t helping things. I would theorize that the environmental cues the turtles use to trigger migration are being delayed, then they get trapped in the bay. I don’t really know of course.

I’ll adopt some!!!

I love this

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Why? Cause stone cold says so

My brother-in-law works for a non-profit in New Jersey that does coastal conservation work. He normally spends his days writing grant applications, but the other day he got a call about a cold-stunned sea turtle and got to spend the morning rescuing it! He wrapped it in a towel and got to hang out with it while it recovered.

Probably more what he imagined the job would be when he first started working for an environmental non-profit, rather than applying for grants all the time…

Former volunteer here- it’s also because younger turtles don’t know they need to go out and around the tip of cape cod so in their attempt to go south to warmer waters they wash up in the beach. Edit: spelling

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I visited the aquarium several years ago and they have a large exhibit dedicated to this work. The aquarium itself is also really awesome so worth the visit anyway. Their main exhibit is a four story tank in the middle of everything that a ramp spirals around. At the top they feed the very old green sea turtle that resides there.

Probably a good time to mention their colleagues down the coast that also do this type of heroic work!

https://nmlc.org/

I love that aquarium, it's really a nice experience.

NMMSC in Brigantine? Really nice facility, went there on a field trip in middle school!

His office is in that area, but he works for American Littoral Society. Good times!

I actually worked briefly at that facility years ago during my veterinary training treating cold stunned sea turtles. I remember having to wait days to declare them dead since the cold slows EVERYTHING down including pulse and breathing that turtles that looked dead would slowly spring to life within 24 hours. Good times

My wife does this for a facility on the coast in NC. Her season starts when NE reports their first strandings. Then it's only a matter of time before she starts getting them. They do wonderful work.

Myrtle the Turtle!

Yes! Myrtle's awesome, I still remember one time as a kid when she noticed me through the glass and started following me from window to window; she'd come look at me with my hands on the glass (softly! I NEVER banged the glass, I knew it was like having someone clap loudly right next to your ears) then I'd run to the next window, and she followed. Followed me a third the way around the tank before she got distracted by a diver coming in for feeding time, the greedyguts. xD