Each winter, when Arctic fronts slip unexpectedly down the peninsula, the usually temperate waters of the Florida Gulf Coast can turn dangerous for sea turtles. A sudden drop in water temperature—often below 50°F —can trigger a life-threatening condition known as “cold stunning.” Unlike mammals, sea turtles are ectothermic, meaning their body temperature mirrors their surroundings. When the Gulf cools too quickly, turtles become lethargic, lose the ability to swim, and may float helplessly at the surface or wash ashore. 

Cold stunning is not frostbite; it is a systemic shutdown. As a turtle’s body temperature drops, its heart rate and circulation slow. The immune system weakens. Pneumonia, dehydration, and shock can follow. Without intervention, mortality rates are high.

Climate variability may increase the frequency of extreme weather swings, making these cold events less predictable. While sea turtles have survived natural temperature shifts for millennia, rapid fluctuations—especially in developed coastal habitats—create added stress. Conservation efforts, habitat protection, and public awareness are critical.

Photo credit: NOAA Public Library, Public Domain

The most commonly affected species along Florida’s Gulf waters include the Green sea turtle and the critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle. Juveniles are especially vulnerable because they often inhabit shallow bays and estuaries, where temperatures can plummet rapidly during strong cold fronts. In these protected but temperature-sensitive waters, a calm winter morning can reveal dozens—or even hundreds—of turtles stranded along tidal flats.

Photo credit: NOAA Public Library, Public Domain

St. Joseph Bay, where I have spent my winters for the last decade,  is home to a dense population of overwintering sea turtles. It has some of the the most pristine sea grass beds in Florida and is the perfect habitat offering food and deep channels where the turtles can escape predators. Normally, turtles leave the shallows for deeper water in cold weather but if the cold persists long enough, even those depths can create cold stunning conditions. And often, strong winter storm winds can blow the sea turtles onto coastal mudflats where they become stranded.

Scientists and volunteers use nets to scoop the immobile sea turtles out of St. Joseph Bay before transporting them to safety. Photo by USGS. (Public Domain)

Fortunately, rescue networks across the Gulf Coast respond swiftly. Organizations such as Clearwater Marine Aquarium and Gulf World Marine Institute work alongside state wildlife agencies (US Geological Survey, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation) to patrol beaches after major cold events. Teams work by boat using nets to scoop cold-stunned turtles out of the bay. On the bay’s Cape San Blas (my favorite place in the whole world!) teams of scientists, wildlife workers and specially-trained and licensed volunteers walk the beaches and marshes, picking up cold-stunned turtles from the shoreline and loading them onto kayaks. Sometimes the kayaks may weight 400 pounds or more and people are out there in the cold and mud, with harnesses around their chests, pulling the kayaks across the mud flats. It’s exhausting, cold, tough work. Volunteers carefully transport stunned turtles to rehabilitation centers, where they are gradually warmed, hydrated, and treated for secondary illnesses. Recovery can take weeks or even months, but many turtles are successfully released back into Gulf waters once temperatures stabilize.

Photo credit: US Fish and Wildlife Service (Public Domain

When the turtles are released back into Gulf waters, usually at Salinas Park in Cape San Blas, it is a jubilant ceremony. Locals and snowbirds (like me!) gather to watch the volunteers bring each turtle down to the water and gently release them into the surf. The crowd claps and laughs with each release, and cell phone cameras are busy recording. Many of the onlookers reach out to the volunteers, clapping them on the back or telling them how grateful they are for the work they have done. I love the camaraderie and happiness of these events, the appreciation given to the humans who have labored to preserve these wonderful creatures, and the shared joy at the preservation of life. I often end up tearful, overwhelmed by the awesomeness of the moment. 

In the quiet aftermath of a winter cold front, the sight of a still sea turtle on a Gulf shoreline is sobering. Yet it also reveals something hopeful: a network of people ready to respond, hands steady against the chill, determined to give these ancient mariners another chance at the tide.

So, I think it’s appropriate in this moment to hear from Crush - the 150 year old, laid-back, surfer-dude character and his young son, Squirt, who helps Marlin navigate the East Australian Current. {Smile}