600 Florida green sea turtles stranded amid cold plunge

Lane DeGregory, Tampa Bay Times on Feb 12, 2026

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TAMPA, Fla. — Cold air and frigid waters have caused more than 600 young green sea turtles to wash ashore on Florida’s beaches this month — and more are turning up every day.

Rescuers have saved them from the sand on Treasure Island, Tarpon Springs, Crystal River and Clearwater. The turtles are juveniles, from 2 to 88 pounds, and the hope is to return all of them to the sea.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium staffers have taken in 37 turtles — 30 of which have been rescued in the Tampa Bay area.

“It’s the most we’ve seen since 2018,” said Kerry McNally, a research scientist and rehabilitation manager at the aquarium.

Sea turtles typically enjoy balmy water of at least 75 degrees. When temperatures drop into the 50s, the animals struggle to regulate their body temperature and breathe in cold air. They turn almost frozen, as if suffering from a bad case of frostbite. Limp turtles float to the surface, where waves batter them ashore.

“Some are in better shape than others,” said Marsha Strickhouser, a spokesperson for the Clearwater aquarium. “A lot of times they look dead but just need to get warmed up and cared for.”

The aquarium takes in stranded sea turtles from other parts of Florida and from waters as far away as New England.

“Temperatures dropped rapidly,” McNally said, “and strong winds blew the turtles into shore.”

Last year, a combination of factors — including climate change — led to a record 1,410 cold-stunned sea turtles stranding in Florida. In previous years, the numbers never got anywhere near that high. Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission tracks the strandings.

Rescuers hoped the increase was a fluke. It’s too early to say if the last bad year was part of a trend or an anomaly, McNally said. And it’s unclear what the rest of this winter will bring.

“Until the waters begin to warm, there will be more,” said Tim Binder, a senior vice president at the Florida Aquarium.

The Tampa Bay Times spent six months last year following the Florida Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center at Apollo Beach, watching veterinarians and volunteers struggle to save the ailing reptiles.

The process usually works like this: A team checks the turtles’ temperatures, tracks weight and heart rates, monitors their meals and medications. Staffers scrape barnacles off the turtles’ tiger-striped shells, squirt ointment into their bulgy eyes and put them through buoyancy tests.

Ultimately, two turtles at the Apollo Beach rehab died last year. After months of care, the rest were released back to sea.

On Tuesday, after caring for the turtles that washed up this year, Clearwater Aquarium staff released 15 into the water off Honeymoon Island. Some needed only a chance to warm up. The hope is that the waters will be more temperate in the weeks ahead.

On Wednesday, two more came into the Florida Aquarium’s Apollo Beach center, bringing that facility’s total to four. The first two arrived on Super Bowl Sunday and were named Seahawk and Patriot. They were among hundreds of turtles stranded on St. Joe Beach.

“We learned a lot last year about being pushed to capacity,” Binder said.

The Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota is caring for 25 cold-stunned turtles from Florida’s East Coast, plus three young manatees pulled out of Bear Creek in south Pinellas County.

Sea turtles are one of the most ancient species on earth. They swam with the dinosaurs, can live for almost a century and grow to more than 300 pounds. Some say they are an “indicator species,” harbingers of the ocean’s health.

Florida has the most sea turtles of any state in the country and is home to five of the planet’s seven species.

Saving a single sea turtle costs about $15,000, according to the Florida Aquarium — and can help build future generations. Female sea turtles can lay 10,000 eggs in a lifetime. One in 1,000 hatchlings survive.

No federal or state funding provides care for sea turtles, so aquariums foot the bill. They depend on donations.

Last year, green sea turtles were taken off an international list of endangered species because of rebounding numbers, giving conservationists hope.

Last year, the Clearwater aquarium recorded the most sea turtle nests in a season along 21 miles of coast from Treasure Island to Caladesi Island. They counted 405. The year before, when the beaches were bashed by two hurricanes, the aquarium found 227 nests.

Some say beach nourishment projects are helping sea turtles by giving them more sand to nest on. Others worry that coastal development and seawalls are disturbing their habitat.

“If you see a sea turtle on the beach, don’t assume it’s dead,” McNally said. Stunned turtles sometimes burrow into the sand, trying to stay warm. “If it’s below the high tide line, move it up the beach so it doesn’t get washed back out to sea.”

Then call the rescue hotline.

If you see a sick or dead sea turtle, call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 888-404-FWCC (3922).