[ad_1]
An unusual number of sea turtles have stranded in New England during the recent cold snap, with many dead and seemingly "frozen".
According to Kemp's Ridley, Robert Prescott, director of the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, told the Cape Cod Times that many turtles are from an endangered species.
The number of stranded turtles has already exceeded what is considered normal for the season. Prescott told The Times that at least 219 turtles had been landed from Wednesday to Friday on the beaches of Cape Cod. He told CNN that 173 of these turtles had died.
Sign up for the new American morning briefing
Prescott said all 82 turtles discovered on Thanksgiving on Thursday were frozen because of unusually cold temperatures.
"It was like they were frozen, fins in all the strange positions, like they were swimming," he said.
On Friday, temperatures rose a few degrees and with a slight change in wind direction, more turtles found alive were found alive, Prescott told the newspaper.
Turtles generally continue to be found ashore until Christmas. Prescott said it was possible that the area could see nearly 1,000 turtles stranded before the New Year.
Prescott believes that the warming of the Gulf of Maine has allowed turtles to delay their migration south.
Source link
