Cold-Stunned 350-Pound Sea Turtle Washes Up On Cape Cod Beach

TRURO, MA — It's cold-stunned season for sea turtles in Cape Cod waters, and so far this season dozens of Kemp's ridleys and other sea turtles have been rescued by marine researchers. But over the weekend, the Massachusetts Audobun Society had an even bigger challenge when a 350-pound loggerhead turtles washed up on a Truro beach.

The turtle was stranded ashore Friday, and the Mass Audubon Society needed the help of Truro's Public Works Department to get it to safety.

The loggerhead's size topped a that of a rescue two years ago in Wellfleet when a female loggerhead nicknamed "Munchkin" washed ashore. "Munchkin weighed over 330 pounds.

During the fall and winter months, it's common for sea turtles to suffer hypothermia-like symptoms and become cold-stunned as water temperatures decrease., but it's usually not fully-grown adult turtles this happens to, never mind a turtle the size of a loggerhead. Loggerheads do not usually succumb until winter when the temperatures have dropped much lower.

"It's pretty rare for an adult sea turtle to strand in the fall,” said Karen Dourdeville, coordinator for Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, in a statement. "The vast majority of turtles that become cold-stunned here are juvenile sea turtles or sub-adults."

Public Works staff helped take the turtle to the Mass Audubon sanctuary in Wellfleet before transferring it to New England Aquarium’s Animal Care Center in Quincy.