While you were braving Florida's chilly weather a few weeks ago, a group of sea turtles were being warmed up at Clearwater Marine Aquarium.

The nonprofit announced that it released four Kemp's ridley sea turtles off the state's east coast on Jan. 29 after treating them for several weeks.

The turtles were part of a group of 12 that came from New England, where they'd been "cold stunned."

RELATED: Florida Aquarium is treating cold-stunned turtles rescued off St. Augustine

Kerry McNally, research scientist and rehabilitation manager at the aquarium, said that's when cold-blooded animals become "basically hypothermic" after experiencing unusually frigid temperatures.

"That causes them to stop eating, stop moving; they're prone to secondary infections," she explained.

Kemp's ridley turtles are the "smallest and most critically endangered sea turtle species," according to the National Park Service.