Dozens Of Sea Turtles Rescued From Cape Cod Beaches

BOSTON (CBS) – There have been more than 60 of them found so far on Cape Cod beaches, and for those endangered sea turtles, being found is the difference between life and death.

"Every November and December we have what's called the sea turtle stranding season on Cape Cod," says Tony Lacasse from the New England Aquarium.

They'll wash up on beaches from Sandwich to Truro. The water is just too cold for them.

The turtles drift, lethargic and when winter winds start to blow, waves push them onto land.

Hundreds of volunteers from Mass Audubon/Wellfleet Bay search for the turtles, braving the elements themselves. Then they're brought to the New England Aquarium sea turtle hospital in Quincy.

Biologists, veterinarians and more volunteers carefully examine their patients, drawing blood, taking x-rays and treating cases of pneumonia.

"Over the first four days our goal is to warm them to a normal body temperature, which in a sea turtle is in the mid-40s. Most of them coming in today are around 51, 52. They'll get re-warmed five degrees a day," says Lacasse.

Most of the rescued are Kemp's ridley turtles.

"It's the most endangered sea turtle in the world.  In fact it's considered critically endangered. There's probably only 30,000-40,000 adults in the world," Lacasse says.

The geography of the Cape is the problem. The turtles are trapped in the "U" of Cape Cod Bay, unable to migrate south to warmer waters.

If they aren't rescued by mid-December or January, the cold will kill them. That makes this work some of the most important the New England Aquarium and Mass Audubon of Wellfleet Bay does.

"Over 25 years we've rescued, rehabbed and released more than 1,500 Kemp's ridley sea turtles. It's played a crucial role in the slow recovery of this sea turtle," said Lacasse.

As the sea turtles regain their health, they're released in warmer waters along the east coast.  But next year, the turtles will ride the Gulf Stream back to New England.