- Temperatures dropping may lead to cold stunned sea turtles
- Do not touch any sea turtles washed up on shore and call 1-866-TURTLE-5
- Texas State Aquarium Wildlife Rescue rehabbed over 400 turtles last winter
It's that time of year again when temperatures can drop quickly. These sudden changes in weather and water temperatures can harm sea turtles in our local waters.
Sea turtles can become cold-stunned, which means they are weak and lethargic. This can negatively impact their ability to swim. When they are unable to swim, they either just float in the water or wash up on our Coastal beaches.
Texas State Aquarium President and CEO Jesse Gilbert says that the Wildlife Rescue Center is prepared if large numbers of sea turtles become cold-stunned this Winter.
"So in 2023, we saw about four hundred. The record at the aquarium is about two thousand in February of 2021 during Winter Storm Yurie," Gilbert said. "So we know that there’s big populations locally in the Coastal Bend, so our capacity at the rescue center is several thousand."
Next week, the Coastal Bend will see a cold front with temperatures in the 40's. This has the potential to stun the turtles.
"We’ve been monitoring the forecast really since early last week and saw some weather patterns starting to get us a little bit concerned for the turtles," Gilbert said.
If you see a turtle washed up on shore, do not touch it.
"All sea turtles are threatened under the Endangered Species Act with U.S. Fish and Wildlife. Unless you’re permitted, it is illegal to touch them," Gilbert said.
Immediately call the 24-hour Turtle Stranding and Salvage Hotline at 1-866-TURTLE-5.
"Don’t put the turtle back in the water," Gilbert said. "So we will have people sometimes that will recover a turtle. Even a cold stunned turtle might kind of move its flippers and things like that. So if it's cold-stunned, call the hotline and let the authorities come out and make sure that that animal needs to be brought into the system.”
The Wildlife Rescue Center at Texas State Aquarium has their turtle rescue facilities all ready to go for any cold stunned turtles that may be found in the coming weeks.
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