Weather is stunning for Florida turtles sent into coma by the chill
A mass rescue was continuing yesterday for more than 2,000 endangered sea turtles that were shocked into a coma by freezing weather in Florida.
Temperatures may be rising after the rare cold weather but scores of turtles are still being found unconscious on beaches and in lagoons.
A phenomenon known as “cold stun” sets in when water temperatures drop below 50F (10C) because the turtles cannot regulate their metabolism.
More than 750 were taken to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, at the Nasa Kennedy Space Centre. “We’ve seen cold-stun events before but never on this scale. This is ten times the normal magnitude,” said Terry Norton, the director and veterinary surgeon at the Georgia Sea Turtle Centre in Jekyll Island.
