Turtle Rehab

11/16/2013 Wellfleet, MA - Alfalfa, as nicknamed by the people who found it, a cold-stunned sea turtle, lies covered with seaweed to prevent the cold wind from reaching it. Photo by XiaoZhi Lim

Interactive: Every year, some young sea turtles feeding in Cape Cod during the summer overstay their visit and get ‘cold-stunned’ as the water turns cold. This interactive graphic shows how biologists and doctors at the New England Aquarium nurse the turtles back to health after they’re rescued by volunteers.

Cape Cod Sea Turtle Cold-Stunning

11/16/2013 Wellfleet, MA - Kayla Phelps reacts to a cold-stunned sea turtle, nicknamed Alfalfa by the people who found it, moving and breathing in her hands after being found on the beach. Photo taken by XiaoZhi Lim

Photo: Each year, sea turtles that overstay in New England waters become cold-stunned as the waters turn cold, unable to move and eventually die if not found by Massachusetts Audubon volunteers and sent to the New England Aquarium’s cold-stunned sea turtle rehabilitation program.