| Update
January 15, 2010
Atlantic
Green Cold Stunning
When
water temperatures drop quickly in the Gulf of Mexico sea turtles
can become "cold stunned". This refers to their systems
becoming so cold that they become hypothermic. The turtles will
then float and wash ashore. With the help of volunteers these cold
sea turtles are rescued and brought to our facility. Sea Turtle,
Inc. staff gives the turtles steroids and slowly warm them back
up. A photo section has been created for the recent stranding event.
As
of 1/10/10 we have had 102 Atlantic green sea turtles wash ashore
due to cold stunning. 64 alive sea turtles are in the care of Sea
Turtle, Inc. and the Coastal Studies Lab on South Padre Island.
As
of 1/12/10 we have a total of 110 Atlantic greens that have stranded
due to the cold stunning. Of those, around 70 are alive. Today at
1:30 pm. 45 of the turtles were released back to the wild. All released
turtles were tagged with passive tagging devices. In the front left
flipper of each is a metal "monel" tag and a PIT (Passive
Integrated Transponder). The PIT tag is a small microchip. A second
metal monel tag was also placed on the rear flipper of each sea
turtle. We will not be able to track the animals with these tags.
As
of 1/15/10 a total of 127 Atlantic greens have been affected by
the cold waters. Of those 83 have survived and 44 are dead. We have
released 70 of the surviving sea turtles. These numbers are for
South Padre Island area only. Along the Texas coast the estimation
is that over 400 Atlantic greens are "cold stunned". Of
that total, around 150 sea turtles are estimated to be alive (including
the 83 from down here). Many of the dead sea turtles are in remote
locations and are difficult to retrieve.
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As
of 1/17/10, the 15 Atlantic greens still in our care are doing well.
Most of them are eating on their own. If the weather continues to
stay warm we will be releasing more on Monday the 18th. For the
most recent information on the cold stunned sea turtles please call
us at (956)761-4511.
Sea
Turtle, Inc. would like to thank everyone who has helped with this
event. Without the care and time of volunteers we could not have
had such a successful recovery of the sea turtles.
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