Cold-Stunned on Cape Cod

It’s not every day that your job is based on tide charts and wind patterns. For our sea turtle staff and volunteers, that’s their life from the beginning of November to mid-January as they try to predict the location of cold-stunned sea turtles that wash up on Cape Cod shores.  

Our staff and more than 200 turtle volunteers stand by nearly 24/7, ready to find these helpless turtles and bring them to safety.  

Eamon Caffrey, Sea Turtle Field Technician, shares a taste of what this role entails.   

Sea Turtles in Massachusetts 

Sea turtles are synonymous with tropical islands and coral reefs, so it may be surprising to learn that four species of sea turtles can be spotted in Cape Cod waters: Kemp’s ridley, Loggerhead, Green, and Leatherback.  

As one of the fastest-warming bodies of water in the world, the Gulf of Maine offers a fine dining opportunity for these sea turtle species during the summer months. Unfortunately, the fast-dropping winter temperatures and geographical hook of Cape Cod trap many of these juvenile turtles as they try to swim south.  

Unable to travel to warmer waters, the turtles are quickly overcome with exhaustion and hypothermia. Left paralyzed (or “stunned”) and at the mercy of the wind and tides, they become stranded on Cape Cod Bay beaches as the water recedes. 

Rescuing Sea Turtles 

Turtles mainly strand during high winds and storms, so we analyze wind direction, to predict where the turtles will wash up. Just after peak high tide (day or night), we send out volunteers to assigned beaches to walk on “turtle patrol.”  

Given the conditions, volunteers brace themselves against winds whipping across the seas, sometimes with a mix of pouring rain. Shifts can be in the middle of the day or at 2 a.m., but it’s worth it knowing you are saving an endangered, helpless creature. 

When a turtle is found, volunteers call a Mass Audubon 24-hour hotline, and a sea turtle staff member will be dispatched to recover the turtle. Juvenile Kemp’s Ridleys, the most common cold-stunned species on Cape Cod, are the perfect size to fit comfortably into a banana box, which makes transportation much easier for everyone, turtles included.  

In the meantime, volunteers cover the turtle in beach debris to hide the animal from the chilling wind, and make it easily visible for the monitors by making marks like arrows or circles in the sand.   

“On one of my first overnight shifts, I was called to rescue two 60-plus-pound Loggerheads in Truro. Until then, I had only rescued juvenile Kemp’s ridleys that were 5-10 pounds. It was 2:30 in the morning, pitch black, pouring rain, and the wind was blowing water and sand into our eyes... It made for a memorable first Loggerhead rescue.” – Eamon Caffrey 

From the beach, turtles leave in a climate-controlled van to a processing center where they will be measured, recorded, and photographed.  

Road to Rehabilitation 

Turtles don’t stay at the Mass Audubon processing center for long and leave within a few hours for rehabilitation at the New England Aquarium in Quincy or the National Marine Life Center in Buzzards Bay. There, veterinarians treat them for any injuries and illnesses before swimming them in temperature-controlled tanks for monitoring. 

It’s a long road to recovery for these endangered marine reptiles, but they will eventually be released back into the wild. Private pilots at Turtles Fly Too volunteer to pick up the rehabilitated turtles to fly them down to southern waters.  

How to Get Involved 

During the 2023 season we rescued and responded to over 700 cold-stunned sea turtles. We would not be able to respond to such large numbers of stranded sea turtles without our 200+ trained volunteers. 

So, keep an eye out this winter and learn what to do if you find a cold-stunned turtle on Cape Cod between November and January.

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