Nearly 600 Sea Turtles, Stunned By Cold Spell, Have Washed Up Off Cape Cod This Fall

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November 25th, 2018

Michael Sprague with the Mass Audubon’s turtle rescue program helps recover a stranded sea turtle in December 2014. In recent days, more than 200 turtles have washed up in Cape Cod because of a phenomenon known as “cold-stunnin

David L. Ryan / Boston Globe via Getty Images

Updated at 10:56 a.m. ET Monday

The shores of Cape Cod, Mass., have seen a spike in the number of debilitated and dead sea turtles, with nearly 600 animals washing up so far this year, according to wildlife officials.

“Cold-stunning,” as rescuers call it, happens when the tropical reptiles are trapped in cold water and — because they’re ectothermic, or reliant on external heat for their bodies to function — their systems begin to shut down.

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