Baby sea turtles washing up on Florida shores from hurricanes’ massive crashing waves

Massive waves churned up by hurricanes Humberto and Imelda in the Atlantic are crashing onshore along the Florida coast, and that’s causing major issues for baby sea turtles.

The conditions are so bad in the water right now that the newly hatched sea turtles are being kicked back onto the beach and getting stuck in piles of sargassum seaweed.

“They’re not able to just float and take good breaths,” Alyssa Hancock of the Marine Science Center told FOX 35 Orlando. “They’re actually getting tumbled in those waves. They will kind of get stuck in that seaweed, the sargassum. And once that washes onshore, they’ll come out of the surf, but then they’ll actually be stuck in there.”

According to a report from FOX 35 in Orlando, Turtle Patrol Volusia located a juvenile green sea turtle on the beach with a large piece of its shell missing.

The animal was rushed to the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet, but despite their best efforts, that turtle didn’t survive.

But that turtle is far from the only one to have been washed ashore.

The Marine Science Center said about 80 young sea turtles are currently in their care to recover from being impacted by the hurricanes.

“We actually get them in pretty lethargic,” Hancock said. “And once they’ve washed up, they actually can’t get back out into the ocean on their own.”

The baby sea turtles are currently being rehabilitated in much calmer waters inside a pool at the Marine Science Center.

The hope is that they will all recover to get back to full strength so they can eventually be released back into the ocean.

“We give them fluids with some dextrose, which is sugar, to kind of help give them a little bit of energy,” Hancock said. “And then we’ll actually try them in some shallow water and make sure that they’re in water, and they’re able to be offered food as well.”

The Marine Science Center said to call them if you encounter stranded sea turtles on the beach, or call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

In Brevard County, anyone who sees a stranded sea turtle or a turtle that needs help, you can contact the Sea Turtle Preservation Society in Indialantic.