An arctic blast that brought a rare snowfall to northern Florida last week left green sea turtles as far south as St. Augustine suffering from a condition known as cold stunning.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission documented over 1,200 cold-stunned sea turtle rescues within six days.

More than 1,200 sea turtles were rescued in northern Florida following a significant cold-stunning event in mid-January.

On Florida’s east coast, offshore Nassau and Volusia counties, an ongoing cold-stunning event has harmed about 120 green sea turtles so far. While that’s far fewer than the hundreds rescued off the Panhandle, it’s the most stressed turtles the state has documented in Northeast Florida, according to the wildlife agency.

According to NOAA, cold-stunning is a condition where sea turtles become very weak or inactive after being exposed to cold temperatures. A similar phenomenon is seen in iguanas. These terrestrial reptiles can fall from trees after being cold-stunned during cold snaps.

It is always rewarding to return sea turtles to the ocean where they belong,” said Adam Kennedy, director of rescue and rehabilitation at the New England Aquarium.