Since sea turtles are ectotherms, they “depend on external sources of heat to determine their body temperature,” so when air and ocean temperatures drop too fast or sea turtles wait too long to migrate into warmer waters, they can suffer from cold shock or even die from being exposed to cold temperatures. As a result, cold-stunned sea turtles are often found on beaches during a time known as stranding season, which occurs from “Halloween until mid-December.” The sea turtles that are found on beaches are sent to rehab centers and later returned to the ocean.

One species of sea turtle that is often found on beaches during stranding season is the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii). These little sea turtles are critically endangered, because they are hunted for their eggs and meat in Mexico. Egg collecting for consumption is unsustainable, because the Kemp’s Ridley is known to only use a few beaches in Mexico as nesting sites.

If you find a sea turtle, you should contact your local stranding network. More information can be found at the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network (STSSN), and more contact information can be found at the Northeast Region Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding & Disentanglement Members’ page.

Currently, cold-stunned sea turtles are being found on beaches from Massachusetts to North Carolina. From Cape Cod Times, MA:

This weekend a rapid drop in air temperatures, combined with offshore waters in the upper 40s, made for an unusual mix that stunned a large number of different types of turtles that would not normally have stranded at the same time, Murley said.

As temperatures fall and the animals’ heart rate and body temperature drops, they become immobile. Floating on the surface to breathe, they are at the mercy of winds that blow them to shore. Once on shore, they can freeze to death.

Sea turtles such as “Dixon” are being found cold-stunned on beaches in North Carolina too. From StarNewsOnline.com, NC:

Dixon washed ashore sometime in the past few days, somewhere north of here, sick and stunned by cold water. Ocean temperatures had dropped quickly in the past few days, giving sea turtles no time to obey their instinctual cues and swim for warmer seas.

The frigid water drags them into a hypothermic stupor. They tuck their flippers in and can’t swim. Sometimes they even drown.

Dixon was lucky. He washed ashore, was discovered and quickly transported to the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center – where the volunteers know a thing or two about sick turtles

Cold weather and poaching aren’t the only threats to sea turtles, since boat collisions can result in mortality. A sea turtle found suffering from “grievous cuts from a boat propeller” was treated with medicine and therapy from Nature—honey. From WRAL.com, NC:

The sticky stuff vets at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center have used to seal Duffy’s wound may have saved her life. It’s a new treatment for injured sea turtles that has roots in ancient Rome — and it’s about as low-tech as medicine gets.

The mystery paste is actually beeswax from a mashed-up honeycomb, generously coated with honey.

Norton says slathering Duffy’s wound with honey seems to help kill bacteria that cause infection while also boosting her immune system. The beeswax packed several inches into the cut keeps out water that bacteria and fungus need to grow.

The healing properties of honey have been known to physicians for thousands of years. It fell by the wayside as a treatment for cuts and sores in the 1940s when antibiotics first went into mass production

Video: Stunned sea turtles at a Massachusetts rehab center:

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::