Ahead of this weekend'spotential winter weather, sea turtle patrol groups with theGulf Center for Sea Turtle Researchare gathering totes, towels and little sleds to rescue sea turtles along the Texas coast.
Director of the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research, Christopher Marshall, said sea turtles can become cold-stunned when water temperature drops below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Marshall said cold-stunning is a kind of paralysis where the turtle stops feeding, stops swimming and floats to the surface.
He said sea turtles can die from cold-stunning if they’re not recovered.
"They get very lethargic. They’re more susceptible to predators ... because they’re reptiles and they have lungs, they could potentially drown. They just begin to really shut down so they require being rescued and they require to be warmed up gradually,"said Joanie Steinhaus, the Ocean Program Director for theTurtle Island Restoration Network.
Researchers with the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research predicted there could be hundreds of cold-stunned sea turtles along the upper Texas Coast and thousands along the entire Texas Coast by the end of this weekend’s cold weather event.
"It was predicted to be a medium size event, but now they’re increasing their predictions to perhaps a larger event," Marshall said about the researchers who are providing models of water temperature.
The Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research has a corps of about 200 volunteers that go out into the cold, walk the shoreline to marshes and pick up cold-stunned sea turtles. The crews then put the turtles into sleds and bring them back to the sea turtle rehabilitation hospital on theTexas A&M Galveston campus.
The first patrols will start rescue efforts Sunday morning, then continue for two to three hours at a time throughout Monday and Tuesday next week. Marshall said the center also has a partnership with Texas Parks and Wildlife who will be looking for sea turtles along the coast by boat.
Marshall advised those that come across a cold-stunned sea turtle to refrain from touching it and instead call thesea turtle hotline so responders can rescue the turtle.
"That's the main concern to help people understand ... if they’re able to be out and they’re out in the extreme cold weather and they see a sea turtle, to please not try to help it themselves, but to call the sea turtle hotline immediately," Steinhaus said.
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