CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) South Carolina and Georgia are welcoming three endangered sea turtles being flown to the area after they were stunned in cold waters off the New England coast last year.

The loggerhead sea turtle and two Kemp's ridleys are arriving at the Mount Pleasant Regional Airport Monday afternoon. They're flying on an Angel Flight from the University of New England in Portsmouth, Maine.

Sea turtles are cold blooded and can't regulate their body temperatures, so they get stunned when water temperatures drop quickly.

The loggerhead suffered shell damage and will stay at the South Carolina Aquarium's Sea Turtle Hospital until spring. The other two are recuperating from pneumonia and will call the Georgia Sea Turtle Center on Jekyll Island home after a brief stay in South Carolina.

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