Endangered sea turtles cold stunned by freezing temperatures in Cape Cod 
 
 
 
 Back-to-back nights of single-digit overnight temperatures in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, this week have killed over 80 sea turtles, most of which were endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles. The turtles were found washed ashore frozen solid on beaches in Brewster, Orleans and Eastham. 
 
 On Wednesday morning, 87 turtles were found washed ashore, but most survived. The 82 sea turtles found on Thursday morning were not so lucky. Since late October, over 400 cold-stunned turtles have been reported, according to Jennette Kerr, Communications Coordinator of the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Sea turtles and other reptiles get cold stunned when temperatures drop sharply. According to the National Park Service, “A cold-stunned turtle is one that has become hypothermic due to severe cold weather.” Sea turtles, like other reptiles, are cold-blooded and therefore cannot regulate their own body temperature. When water temperatures drop below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, the turtles are rendered immobile and float to the surface. When they wash ashore, they remain immobile and the freezing overnight temperatures make survival impossible. 
 
 Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles are the most endangered species of sea turtles and they are also the most common cold-stunned species. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the largest concentration of cold-stunned turtles occurs in Massachusetts. 
 
 
 
 
 
 “Recently, we’ve been averaging about 600 cold-stunned sea turtles in Massachusetts from late October through December,” NOAA wrote. “In addition, New York, specifically Long Island beaches, also see several cold-stunned turtles each winter.” 
 
 The cold-stunned sea turtles in Cape Cod are brought to the Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. According to the sanctuary, the first instance of turtles becoming cold stunned this season came on Oct. 22. Kerr told capecodtimes.com that she fears many more frozen turtles may wash ashore in the coming nights due to the historically low temperatures. 
 
 Sea turtles normally migrate south during the late fall and winter, but turtles being impacted by cold stuns has increased in recent years. Kerr told the Boston Globe that there isn’t a clear reason why, but she suspected it was becoming more noticeable due to prolonged successful conservation. 
 
 “Because sea turtle conservation has been more successful, there are more successful hatchings,” Kerr told the Boston Globe. “So we are probably being the result of 10 to 15 years of success at the nesting beach level. Temperatures have been increasing, so more turtles are probably hitting colder waters unexpectedly, becoming trapped in Cape Cod when they go south.” 
 
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 Close to 190 dead sea turtles were found frozen off the coast of Cape Cod Friday after low temperatures stifled their ability to make it safely to shore. 
 
 The Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuary said a “once in a lifetime weather system” of “gale force winds,” cold temperatures and high tide caused the migrating turtles to become “incapacitated” by the time they were found along the Massachusetts peninsula around 6 a.m. ET Friday. 
 
 “A lot of the turtles were found frozen in the water still,” Mass Audubon’s director Bob Prescott told NBC News. “I picked up two to three myself that were still in the water, the slushy water.” 
 
 Prescott said that while the organization will help facilitate tests on the turtles to determine the exact cause of death, the turtles did “essentially freeze.” Overall, the Mass Audubon said they have found over 400 dead turtles this season. 
 
 Close to 400 sea turtles have been found dead along the Cape Cod this season as cold water temperatures cause some of them to die in frozen waters, said Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuary director Bob Prescott. Mass Audubon's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary 
 
 According to researchers, the timing of the species’ migration has only increased the chances of turtles getting frozen. Back in 1990s, sea turtles used to arrive to the Cape Cod area in October but now, they have been coming to shore around November when the water is much colder. 
 
 “Sea turtles are moving further north along our coast, or south to the southern hemisphere, as waters are warming and they are expanding their ranges,” said Wallace J. Nichols, a research associate at California Academy of Sciences and sea turtle biologist. “So when we get these quick swings from warm to cooler, the turtles that haven’t made it south definitely get into trouble.” 
 
 Migration is a seasonal way of life for sea turtles — traveling thousands of miles to feed and lay their eggs, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
 
 Conservation efforts in recent years have helped to stabilize the sea turtle population and allowed them to make their way to locations they haven’t visited in years, according to Nichols. However, changing temperatures have made them unprepared for what is headed their way in those areas. 
 
 “Climate change is impacting sea turtles very clearly,” Nichols said, adding that “cooked” turtle eggs caused by warmer waters has affected the animals’ migration patterns both ways. 
 
 Since the discovery, Prescott said that water temperatures have gotten a “little warmer” allowing some turtles to make it to shore, and about a dozen turtles have been sent to the New England Aquarium. Most of the turtles coming into the Cape Cod area this time of year are tropical or subtropical in nature, preferring water temperatures of 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit, Prescott said. 
 
 He added that they were unable to revive the turtles found Friday morning — some of which were the critically endangered species Kemp's Ridley sea turtle. 
 
 "The problem here is that they can’t get out of Cape Cod Bay in time," Prescott said, adding that they still don't know how many turtles have been frozen to death in areas like Brewster, Massachusetts, where the beaches have been iced in. "The shape of the bay just confuses them." 
 
 CORRECTION (Nov. 23, 2018, 5:07 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated the location of Brewster. It is in Massachusetts, not New York.
– Nearly 190 sea turtles died off Cape Cod in a way no one wants to go—slowly freezing to death. The Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuary says the turtles were found "incapacitated" along the coast of Massachusetts early Friday, NBC News reports. "A lot of the turtles were found frozen in the water still," says Mass Audubon’s director, Bob Prescott. "I picked up two to three myself that were still in the water, the slushy water." Researchers say the turtles—among roughly 400 found this season—are fooled by warming waters that entice them to migrate further north. "So when we get these quick swings from warm to cooler, the turtles that haven’t made it south definitely get into trouble," says sea turtle biologist Wallace Nichols. Two nights of single-digit temperatures were enough to kill the turtles, which—like other reptiles—can't regulate their body temperatures because they're cold-blooded, AccuWeather reports. Water below 50 degrees Fahrenheit immobilizes them and makes them float to the surface, wash ashore, and slowly freeze. On the upside, conservation efforts have improved their population rates and helped them migrate further than they have in years, but they're unprepared for sudden temperature shifts in those areas. Sadly, several critically endangered Kemp's Ridley sea turtles were among the dead. "Climate change is impacting sea turtles very clearly," says Nichols. (Meanwhile, the US released a dire climate report in a way possibly meant to sideline it.)