Sea turtles are reptiles - cold-blooded animals that do not have the ability to regulate temperature internally. They must move to warmer or cooler environments to keep from getting too cold or too hot. With sudden exposure to cold water, sea turtles may become lethargic and lose the ability to move to warmer waters. These turtles are “cold-stunned,” and they are often juveniles that have not left their feeding grounds in the sound prior to the first harsh winter cold front that usually arrives in late November or early December. Cold-stunned turtles float to the surface and are often found stranded along the shores of sounds and barrier islands.

The North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island is home to the Network for Endangered Sea Turtles (NEST) Rehabilitation Facility. It rehabilitates cold-stunned turtles by bringing their body temperatures carefully back to acceptable levels, and making sure they are well nourished and strong before releasing them back to the wild.

All three Aquariums respond to calls involving stranded sea turtles. Common causes of stranding include entanglement, trauma such as propeller strikes, ingestion of debris, gastrointestinal obstruction, buoyancy disorders, and hypothermia or cold-stun. Rescue and rehabilitation takes place at facilities designed for that purpose along the North Carolina coast. In addition to NEST, the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center on Topsail Island provides “hospital” services for sea turtles for the central/southern part of the North Carolina coast.