Eight sea turtles are recovering at the Turtle Hospital in the Florida Keys after being found suffering from hypothermic symptoms due to cold temperatures in Upper Key waters.
According to the hospital, the affected turtles are juvenile green turtles experiencing “cold stunning,” a hypothermic reaction triggered when they are exposed to cold water for extended periods.
Bette Zirkelbach, the manager of the Turtle Hospital, stated, “We’re used to receiving cold-stunned turtles from New England, but it’s very rare to get a cold-stunned turtle from the warm waters in the Florida Keys.”
She explained that turtles experience cold stunning when water temperatures drop below 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and any temperature below 50 degrees can even prove fatal.
“Once we saw that the (air) temperature in the Florida Keys was going to dip to the low 40s, which is really the lowest temperature in over a decade here in the Florida Keys, we began watching those water temperatures very closely”, Zirkelbach added.
As part of their treatment, the turtles are being gradually warmed and hydrated with fluids. Zirkelbach also noted that the hospital often encounters reptiles with boat-strike injuries and tumors.
“So the good news with cold-stunned turtles, if they’re found early enough, we have good success with treatment,” said Zirkelbach. “Sometimes they get pneumonia as a secondary infection, so we are going to monitor with X-rays and a CT scan, but we have a really good history with being able to warm them up and get them back out”, she concluded.
Once their rehabilitation is complete, which could take weeks or even up to a year, the turtles will be released into typically warmer waters near the Florida Keys.
This story was translated from Spanish with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool. An NBC 6 editor reviewed the translation.