WELLFLEET – New England Aquarium has reported that over 200 cold-stunned sea turtles have washed up on Cape beaches this season as ocean temperatures drop—with almost half of them washing up just this past weekend alone.
The turtles are trapped by the geography of Cape Cod Bay as they attempt to swim south for the season, eventually becoming lethargic, then completely stunned. Strong winds then wash these turtles ashore on bayside Cape beaches where beachgoers and volunteers recover them to be sent to the Aquarium’s turtle hospital in Quincy.
Aquarium staffers have treated 257 live sea turtles: 214 critically endangered Kemp’s ridley turtles, 39 green turtles, and four loggerheads. About 100 of those turtles have been rescued over the weekend and early this week.
“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.
Any beachgoers who spot washed ashore turtles are urged by Mass Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary to contact them and move the turtle above the high tide line.
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