Every year, the New England Aquarium's Marine Animal Rescue Team rehabilitates critically endangered sea turtles and releases them back into the wild. Your support makes programs like this possible.


We are in the midst of an epic sea turtle stranding season right now. Take a look.



The Aquarium's Rescue Team has now treated more than 600 turtles at the Animal Care Center. That's nearly four times the number treated during our last record-breaking cold-stun season in 2012. Some of the healthier turtles seen in the video have been transported to other rescue facilities up and down the East Coast after being stabilized by Aquarium rescuers. This will make room for even more patients. Each turtle is in for several months of rehabilitation before being released back into the ocean.

A green sea turtle patient

And still, the turtles keep arriving. Volunteers with our partners at Mass. Audubon are strolling the beaches looking for cold-stunned turtles that may have washed onto the beaches along Cape Cod. Those turtles are triaged at Mass Audubon in Wellfleet then transported down to the Animal Care Center in Quincy, Mass.

When the turtles first arrive they are given subcutaneous fluid depending on what their bloodwork shows.

New arrivals get a swim to hopefully stimulate activity. In the early days of rehabilitation, turtles sometimes need a helping hand to keep their heads above water.