Cold-stunned turtles enjoy Florida rehab | Video

SeaWorld Orlando's Animal Rescue Team received 20 stable sea turtles flown in on a U.S. Coast Guard airplane from the New England Aquarium.

By Desiree Stennett, Orlando Sentinel

7:15 p.m. EST, December 8, 2012

Dozens of endangered sea turtles stunned by cold waters along the Cape Cod coast will call Central Florida home for a short time.

Coast Guard airplanes flew the turtles to SeaWorld Orlando, the Volusia County Marine Science Center and several other Florida aquariums on Friday.

SeaWorld received 20 Kemp's Ridley sea turtles and five massive loggerhead sea turtles were taken to the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission helped find temporary homes for the more than 150 turtles initially rescued by the New England Aquarium.

SeaWorld said the mass standings of the turtles was caused by the unusually warm November weather that delayed the turtles' normal migration to warmer waters. When ocean temperatures dropped quickly, many of the turtles developed hypothermia and were washed ashore.

Now that the turtles have escaped the bitter cold, they are recovering in the Florida rehabilitation facilities and will be taken back to their natural habitats once warmer waters return.

Distressed turtles can be found in Florida waters, too. Florida wildlife officers ask those who find stranded, distressed or dead sea turtles to call Wildlife Alert at 888-404-3922.

dstennett@tribune.com or 407-420-5447

Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/os-seaworld-orlando-sea-turtles-20121208,0,1898358.story?track=rss

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