EASTHAM, Mass. (AP) - Several sea turtles have washed ashore along Cape Cod Bay since frigid temperatures hit the area.
The Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary says 18 sea turtles have washed ashore, mostly in Eastham, and hundreds more cold-stunned turtles are expected to wash ashore in the next six weeks.
The New England Aquarium said in a statement that stranding season doesn’t occur anywhere else in the world on this scale. It happens when cold snaps immobilize turtles and strong winds strands them ashore due to the Cape’s hook-like shape.
Volunteers from the Wellfleet sanctuary have been collecting the turtles, logging them and treating medical conditions.
The Cape Cod Times reports that before 2011 the yearly average was 90 turtles, but in recent years it has been more than 300.
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