31 endangered sea turtles rehabilitated, released in North Carolina after cold-stunning season

Endangered sea turtles rehabilitated and released after cold-stunning season

Kemp's ridley sea turtles were rehabilitated and returned to the Atlantic Ocean after recovering from cold-stunning (New England Aquarium via Storyful).

FORT FISHER, N.C. – From stunned to splashing around, crowds of people cheered as groups of rehabilitated sea turtles crawled their way off a windy North Carolina beach Monday and back home to the Atlantic Ocean.

One by one, these Kemp's ridley sea turtles were taken by the tide after months of care facilitated by the New England Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital.

Every year, a certain number of these critically endangered sea turtles are unable to keep up with rapidly changing water temperatures and become hypothermic. The turtles are unable to move and wash up, becoming stranded on beaches in a phenomenon known as "cold-stunning."

WATCH: COLD-STUNNED IGUANA TUMBLES FROM MIAMI TREE DURING ARCTIC BLAST

Volunteers from Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary patrol local beaches looking for beached turtles to bring to the Sea Turtle Hospital in Quincy, Massachusetts.

The aquarium said more than 500 live turtles came through its doors this past cold-stunning season, which began in November 2024 and continued into January 2025.

Of the 31 turtles that were released Monday, 25 were from the Quincy facility, and six others were driven down from the New York Marine Rescue Center on New York's Long Island.

"It is always incredible to watch these turtles become healthy again after being cold-stunned," said Sammi Chaves, a Rescue Biologist at the New England Aquarium. "The progress they make from when they first arrive at the New England Aquarium all the way to when they are released on the beach is amazing and really proves how resilient these animals are." 

DOZENS OF SEA TURTLES RESCUED FROM FLORIDA BEACHES FOLLOWING HISTORIC WINTER BLAST

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Cold-stunned iguanas can fall from trees in South Florida

Temperatures need to be around 40 degrees for about 8 hours before the iguanas become "cold stunned."

The director of the rescue and rehabilitation program, Adam Kennedy, said in a news release that the number of sea turtle strandings has increased over the past decade.

The turtles were driven in temperature-controlled vehicles down to North Carolina, where water temperatures are now warm enough for the marine reptiles.

Community members and wildlife enthusiasts gathered along the beach to cheer on and encourage the turtles as they made their way back into the Atlantic.

The aquarium said 42 more turtles will be released off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the summer, once the waters of Nantucket Sound have warmed.