Saving Sea Turtles

In late fall and early winter, turtles migrating south from their summer feeding grounds off the New England coast get stuck in the hook of Cape Cod. As water temperatures cool, they become hypothermic. Volunteers with Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary bring the turtles they find stranded on Cape Cod beaches to our Quincy Animal Care Facility for essential medical care. In the past decade, we have rehabilitated thousands of endangered Kemp’s ridley, green, and loggerhead sea turtles, and successfully released up to 85% of them.