By Emily Bazar, USA TODAY
Every year, endangered sea turtles wash up on the beaches of Massachusetts' Cape Cod Bay, freezing and near death. Most are nursed back to health.
This fall, though, an unusually early, long cold snap and lashing winds have caused more Kemp's Ridley sea turtles, the most endangered sea turtles in the world, to wash ashore dead, says Tony LaCasse, spokesman for the New England Aquarium in Boston, which rehabilitates sick turtles and returns them to the wild.
Since late October, the aquarium has received 36 turtles, 30 of them since Thursday, LaCasse says. Most are Kemp's Ridleys.
"We had probably 20 turtles that arrived dead," he says. In past years, 80% to 90% arrived alive.
The Kemp's Ridley is the smallest sea turtle. It grows up to 100 pounds. The ones that wash up on the beach are juveniles 2 to 5 years old weighing up to 8 pounds, LaCasse says.
It's not clear how they end up on Cape Cod. Juveniles should have migrated down the Atlantic coast by now, he says, but scientists speculate that currents pull them into the bay.
"As the water temperature cools down, they become less and less active," says Dennis Murley, a naturalist at the Mass Audubon Society's Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on Cape Cod. "Somewhere around 50 degrees, it just about kills them."
Volunteers walk beaches in November and December searching for stranded sea turtles.
For the past 10 days, Don Lewis has combed beaches day and night. On Friday, he found a Kemp's Ridley in the waves. The turtle, which fit in the palm of his hand, "felt like an ice cube when you picked it up," he says, but it blinked when he touched its eyelid.
On Sunday, he found a Loggerhead and another Kemp's Ridley. The Kemp's Ridley was flipped on its back and unresponsive.
He doesn't know their fate once they're turned over to the aquarium.
Lewis, 61, a government retiree, blogs at www.turtlejournal.com. He says he's relieved that rain Tuesday broke the cold snap.
"You pick up one of these small critters that looks like it's frozen, and you put it in your overcoat to protect it from the wind … and it starts moving and absorbing heat," he says. "That is an emotional moment."
Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more.