6 Cold-Stunned Turtles From Northeast Get Warm Reception In Tampa

TAMPA, FL – The Florida Aquarium has received six cold-stunned turtles for care from the Northeast.

The turtles arrived over the weekend, and include four endangered Kemp’s ridley and two green sea turtles.

These turtles were transported to Florida by the nonprofit Turtles Fly Too in a private plane.

Turtles Fly Too is a national nonprofit organization made up of pilots who donate their expertise, aircraft, fuel and labor to support endangered-species rescue efforts.

The end of November typically marks the start of the “cold stun season” which is when turtles in the Northeast get exposed to prolonged cold temperatures and become incapacitated. These turtles are often found floating or stranded on the beach with malnutrition, infections and injuries. Turtles like these usually take two to three months of intensive care to get well enough to return to the sea.

The Florida Aquarium at 701 Channelside Drive officially opened its $4.1 million Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center in Apollo Beach in 2019 to care for turtles like this. The two story, 19,000-square-foot center features five rehabilitation pools including one of the state’s deepest turtle-exclusive dive pools with an observation window.

The pools at the care center range in size from 1,500 to 25,000 gallons. The sea turtle dive pool, which reaches a depth of 11 feet, is used to assess buoyancy issues, swim conditioning and food trials before turtles are cleared by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to be returned to the wild.

The center also includes a state-of-the-art sea turtle surgery suite.

The Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center was made possible through a unique public-private partnership consisting of groups who shared the common goal of working to achieve and maintain healthy sea turtle populations.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission contributed $3 million; The Spurlino Foundation and others donated $690,000; The Florida Aquarium contributed more than $400,000; and TECO Energy helped make the center a reality through a land use agreement.

See related stories:

• Turtles Can Fly, Too: Rare Sea Turtle Catches Flight To Chicago
• Florida Aquarium Opens Home For Injured Turtles In Apollo Beach
• Florida Aquarium Takes Another Step To Saving Endangered Coral