One day after the release of the FOURTH NATIONAL CLIMATE ASSESSMENT the disturbing news that Sea Turtles are freezing to death off of Cape Cod should drive home the urgency of the planetary dilemma we re facing. It illustrates the stress that the shifting of ecosystems towards the poles puts on at risk species like the Sea Turtles as they struggle to adapt to rapidly shifting sea conditions.
Nearly 190 sea turtles were reportedly found frozen to death off the coast of Cape Cod on Friday after frigid conditions stifled their ability to safely swim to shore.
Bob Prescott, the director of the Mass Audubon wildlife, told NBC News that the migrating turtles were unable to make it to shore after they became “incapacitated” by bone-chilling temperatures, a high tide and “gale force winds.”
“A lot of the turtles were found frozen in the water still,” Prescott continued. “I picked up two to three myself that were still in the water, the slushy water.”
“Sea turtles are moving further north along our coast, or south to the southern hemisphere, as waters are warming and they are expanding their ranges,” Wallace J. Nichols, a research associate at California Academy of Sciences and sea turtle biologist, told NBC News.