Experts Brace as Turtle Cold-Stunning Season Begins

A Kemp’s ridley sea turtle recovers in a tank at the New England Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital.
CREDIT: Vanessa Kahn/New England Aquarium

WELLFLEET – Experts say that they are braced for another busy cold stunning season for sea turtles as temperatures drop in Cape Cod Bay.

The New England Aquarium reported that it’s about 59 degrees in the bay and as it approaches 50 degrees sea turtles will become weak and unable to swim before washing ashore on inner beaches, carried by winds.

Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay is looking for volunteers to walk beaches in search of these turtles, where they’ll then be brought to the Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Hospital for rehabilitation. It’s become a yearly tradition for many officials with the program.

“Our Sea Turtle Hospital is currently prepping for the arrival of sea turtle patients, while monitoring the temperature in Cape Cod Bay. When it dips into the 55ºF range, we usually start to see sea turtle patients,” said the Aquarium in a Facebook post.