MARATHON, Fla. (AP) — Twenty critically endangered juvenile Kemp’s ridley sea turtles were flown from New England to the subtropical Florida Keys to convalesce at the Marathon Turtle Hospital after being rescued from Cape Cod Bay’s frigid coastal waters.
The hospital says each turtle suffers from “cold stunning,” a hypothermic reaction that occurs when sea turtles are exposed to cold water for a prolonged time.
They arrived Friday by private plane. Hospital officials compared the turtles to winter tourists, who come to the Keys to warm up. They will be at the hospital for a few months.
