https://www.npr.org/2021/02/17/968719492/volunteers-in-texas-are-saving-thousands-of-cold-stunned-sea-turtles-from-the-st
Cold snap in Texas, coldest weather since 1989.
Volunteers In Texas Are Saving Thousands Of Cold-Stunned Sea Turtles From The Storm
Turtles in the Brownsville Ship Channel and elsewhere have been unable to cope with the extreme cold.
Sea Turtle, Inc., a nonprofit education, rehabilitation and conservation organization in South Padre Island, Texas, has taken in nearly 4,500 sea turtles since Sunday, according to Executive Director Wendy Knight. She told NPR that local volunteers have been retrieving the turtles by boat and on foot and that the organization has been able to accommodate them with assistance from the community, including from the local government and SpaceX, which has a launch site nearby. SpaceX showed up to deliver the specific and massive type of commercial generator needed to host electrical services for the nonprofit’s education center, residence center, clinic and hospital.
They ran out of space at the rescue center, so the local convention center opened its doors to turtle storage. More turtles are expected to arrive in the next few days.
The coldblooded creatures are particularly vulnerable to the extreme weather since they are unable to regulate their own body temperature. When water temperatures drop below approximately 50 degrees, sea turtles remain awake but lose the ability to move, a condition called a “cold stun” that often leads to death by injury, stranding or drowning.
The five species of sea turtle found in Texas are all considered either threatened or endangered, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Knight called this week “the Armageddon of all cold stuns,” noting that while the group prepares for cold stuns annually, it does not typically expect to be without power at the same time.
Some 2,200 turtles were brought in during the first two days of the storm
