Rescuers Work To Warm Up Cold-Stunned Turtles On Cape Cod

The season’s first cold-stunned sea turtles were rescued from Cape Cod beaches over the weekend.

A spokeswoman for Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary says juvenile Kemp’s ridley turtles were found Saturday at beaches in Brewster and Eastham. A third was found Sunday on Great Island in Wellfleet.

The ridleys, the world’s most endangered sea turtles, were taken to the New England Aquarium’s animal care facility in Quincy for medical care and rehabilitation.

A green turtle was found dead Saturday morning in Eastham.

The turtle strandings are an annual event on Cape Cod as the reptiles suffer hypothermia-like symptoms when the weather and water turn cooler.

Last year, the first strandings were reported in late October.