Winter has been tough this year, especially for volunteers in Texas. Amid a terrible winter storm, they already saved thousands of cold-stunned sea turtles unable to move and survive alone.
Receiving Support
While some are unable to find housing for themselves during a destructive Texas storm, Sea Turtle, Inc. volunteers have been working nonstop. This nonprofit education, rehabilitation, and conservation organization in South Padre Island, Texas focused on sea turtles who are unable to survive during a storm. As Executive Director Wendy Knight said, they already rescued over 4,500 turtles. Thanks to the locals, government, and SpaceX, volunteers have enough space to accommodate turtles. “The love and support of people who just want to help things that can’t help themselves is overwhelming,” Knight said.
After the first few missions, 500 of the cold-stunned sea turtles have occupied the Sea Turtle, Inc.’s facility. The rest 4,000 stayed at the Convention and Visitors Bureau’s South Padre Island Convention Centre. The whole building is lined with tarps, kiddie pools, and boxes. With more turtles incoming, the volunteers will use more space available. The saved creatures can’t be released right away, too – they are coldblooded, meaning they can’t regulate their body temperature. As the temperature goes below 50, they go into a cold stun. Sea creatures are still alive, but unable to move, resulting in their death in the waters. The first week of Texas storms was the worst for seas turtles, though, as there was no power as well. “We have exacerbated a once-in-a-few-decade experience by a holdback of the power grid and a holdback of our electric support,” Knight said.
One Step Forward, Four Steps Back
Before rescuing cold-stunned turtles, the nonprofit facility already housed 40 turtles that can’t return to the wild. Then, the water in tanks started to cool after the power went off, and more turtles arrived at the location. Later, the battle became unbelievable. Apart from the volunteers, others have been bringing the sea creatures in boats and vehicles. Most of the turtles have been on a bigger side of the spectrum. Moreover, one of them is around 150 years old and over 400 pounds!
After Sea Turtle, Inc. started helping out turtles, the company with 30 employees and 500 official volunteers also held a training to teach locals proper turtle interaction. Thanks to that, many know what to do when they are rescuing a cold-stunned turtle. Although Texas locals have proven their generosity, the City Council and SpaceX built platforms and brought generators. “Like a ray from heaven, yesterday at 7:30 p.m. the site director and operations manager for SpaceX Boca Chica and two electricians and engineers from SpaceX showed up on our property with the largest generator I’ve ever seen,” Knight stated. “And at 1:30 a.m. this morning, we turned the lights and the power on.” Unfortunately, most of the heaters and chillers have blown out after the power outage. So, even the SpaceX generator can’t bring them back to life. The two companies have a Plan F, which includes heating all of the hospital tanks and moving the resident turtles into smaller ones.
Despite making their best effort, Knight explained that some turtles might not overcome their cold stun. On the other hand, people have never seen such a huge release of turtles into the wild before, when the weather is back to normal.
Sources: AP News, NPR