Sea turtles from the shores of Maine to the shores of Texas are being knocked out by the cold weather, and a rescue effort is underway to keep them safe till their habitat warms up.
About 50 hypothermic turtles are recuperating at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) laboratory in Galveston, Texas, a result of a cold snap with temperatures about 30 degrees Fahrenheit below last year at the same time.
Sea turtles are cold-blooded, and because they can’t regulate their body temperature, become cold-stunned if water temperatures drop below about 50 degrees. On Wednesday, Jan. 2, the water temperature was about 40 degrees, according to NOAA.
Once cold-stunned, they become immobilized, making them vulnerable to being hit by boats, eaten by predators, or dehydrated from floating on the surface of the water.
They can also wash ashore and become stranded, and if they’re not rescued quickly, they often die.
The Galveston laboratory is expecting another 200 of the green sea turtles to be brought in, KHOU reported Friday, Feb. 5—and this is just the beginning.
“Cold-stun season actually runs through February so this is at the forefront,” Lyndsey Howell, a research fishery biologist at the laboratory told Chron.com.
This year’s particularly cold weather, though, has brought in more than most years. She says that they, along with partners, have rescued about 1,000 turtles.
In early December, they had rescued more sea turtles in one weekend than they usually do in all of January and February, according to Chron.com.
This is partly good news—the high number of rescues indicates that the green sea turtle population is on the rise. They are considered endangered in some parts of the world and threatened in others, including the Gulf Coast, according to NOAA.
The green sea turtles have been found from inshore Galveston to South Padre Island, an area that spans just about almost all of the Texas Gulf Coast, Fox News reports.
Rehabilitators at the NOAA laboratory slowly increase their body temperature, and for those that are sick or injured, they treat them till they are ready to be released.
“Each turtle is being carefully monitored by NOAA staff and is fed daily a diet of vegetables, squid and shrimp,” NOAA said on its Facebook page.
Once the weather warms up and the turtles aren’t at risk of getting frozen again, the laboratory will release them back into the water. Some are released earlier into warmer, offshore waters.
At the end of November, the NOAA Fisheries’ Woods Hole Science Aquarium (WHSA) in Maine picked up six cold-stunned Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles.
“Each of the turtles is getting individual medical care depending on their condition, and all are doing well,” said Sarah Trudel, a staff member at the WHSA, in a Dec. 8 press release. “One has shell damage, possibly from a ship strike. The vet checks on them daily, and we check on them frequently. They are eating and are swimming around their holding tank, where the water temperature is currently 75 degrees.”
We received another six Kemp’s ridley #seaturtles to help rehab after being cold stunned in November. That makes a total of 12 of the smallest endangered marine turtles recovering at our Science #Aquarium in #WoodsHole https://t.co/1qcITrsduw #EndangeredSpeciesAct pic.twitter.com/FPwGn7RqAc
— NOAAFish_NEFSC (@NOAAFish_NEFSC) December 28, 2017
They’re not the only animals that have been affected by the cold snap in the south.
It’s so cold in Florida that iguanas are falling from their perches in suburban trees.
Temperatures dipped below 40 degrees early Thursday, Jan. 4, in parts of South Florida, according to the National Weather Service in Miami.
That’s chilly enough to immobilize green iguanas common in Miami’s suburbs.
The cold-blooded creatures native to Central and South America start to get sluggish when temperatures fall below 50 degrees, said Kristen Sommers, who oversees the non-native fish and wildlife program for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
If temperatures drop below that, iguanas freeze up. “It’s too cold for them to move,” Sommers said.
Unlike the sea turtles, however, no rescue is planned for the iguanas.
Green iguanas are an invasive species in Florida, and are known for eating through landscaping and digging burrows that undermine infrastructure. They can grow over five feet long, and their droppings can be a potential source of salmonella bacteria, which causes food poisoning.
The wildlife commission has begun holding workshops to train homeowners and property managers to trap or manage iguanas.
The reptiles may be easier to catch this week, Sommers said.
“This provides an opportunity to capture some, but I’m not sure it’s going to be cold enough for long enough to make enough of a difference,” she said. “In most cases, they’re going to warm back up and move around again, unless they’re euthanized.”
Well-meaning residents finding stiffened iguanas are advised to leave them alone, as they may feel threatened and bite once they warm up.
“Don’t assume that they’re dead,” Sommers said.
As for cold-stunned sea turtles, NOAA is asking anyone who sees one to report it to them by calling call 1-866-TURTLE-5.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Recommended Video:
