69 green sea turtles were recovering this weekend after Gulf World employees and the Department of Environmental Protection had to rescue them from the very cold waters of St. Joe Bay.

Gulf World Park Director, Kevin Walsh, said he received a call from D-E-P Thursday about a cold-stunning incident.

Crews arrived in Port St. Joe to find dozens of turtles floating in the freezing water. Walsh says the temperature dropped so low, the reptiles couldn't regulate their own body temperatures.

Workers and volunteers hauled them to Gulf World at Panama City Beach where they're currently staying in a heated pool.

Walsh says by the time the rescue crews arrived in Gulf County more than 30 of the endangered turtles died from the stunning incident.

"We didn't realize the enormity of it until we started to get into it. It started out just a few turtles and ended up being quite a few more than we had thought."

The turtles will remain at Gulf World for the next few days until the water temperature warms up again. The air temperature at the time of the incident was 24 degrees.

In the meantime, they're being numbered, weighed, and photographed for research purposes.