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Dedicated volunteers rescue over 4,500 endangered sea turtles from frigid Texas waters

@lara_hand/Twitter

As record cold temperatures continue to impact Texas, causing power outages and water shortages across the state, a group of dedicated volunteers have taken it upon themselves to rescue thousands of endangered sea turtles from the waters of South Padre Island. The resort town in southern Texas rarely gets too cold long enough to threaten sea turtles, who need warm waters to survive. But with temps dipping down to freezing and still hovering in the 40s, something had to be done to keep the creatures warm.

So far, according to NPR, nearly 4,500 sea turtles have been brought indoors since Sunday by volunteers at organizations like Sea Turtle, Inc., a sea turtle rescue operation, and the South Padre Convention Center, where the overflow of turtles are being kept. Sea Turtle, Inc. lost power, but thanks to a commercial generator brought in by SpaceX, have been able to keep their facility warm enough for the rescued turtle patients who already resided there and the influx of new rescues before they got too full to take more.

Volunteers have been working hard to save as many sea turtles as possible, even though many of these people are struggling with losing electricity, heat, and water themselves. Using their own cars and trailers, they have been transporting the turtles to safety a dozen or two at a time.

Lara (@lara_hand) on Twitter shared a thread about how her retired mother spends winters volunteering Sea Turtle, Inc. and how they're rescuing turtles during the cold snap. Her photo of the back of her Subaru filled with sea turtles drives home the dedication of the volunteers who are working to save these creatures.

Lara said her mom's team rescued more than 1,000 turtles on the 15th, one of which was over 100 years old and around 350 pounds.

Here's a video her mom shared from the convention center, showing how many turtles were being stored there already.

And more photos of the incredible rescue operation.

Sea Turtle, Inc. told the Washington Post that during a normal winter, volunteers might rescue from a few dozen to a few hundred cold-stunned turtles, so this week's effort is truly extraordinary. When a turtle gets too cold, its heart rate lowers and its body becomes paralyzed. The hypothermic shock causes them to float above the water, where they are at risk of being struck by boats, attacked by predators, or even drowning.

However, the 3,500 turtles are not out of the woods yet. The "dry dock" conditions in the convention center are not ideal, and the issue of maintaining power is vital to keep temperatures warm enough for the turtles.

Ed Caum, executive director of the South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau, told the AP that he hesitates to call the effort a rescue because "we know we're going to lose some." Temperatures may not rise enough for the turtles to be returned to the water until the weekend.

"We're trying to do the best we can to save as many turtles as possible," he said.

The polar vortex that has swept through Texas and the southern U.S. has already claimed at nearly two dozen human lives in addition to an unknown number of animals. One animal sanctuary in North Bexar County, Texas has sadly lost more than a dozen animals including at least one chimpanzee as well as monkeys, lemurs, and tropical birds.

The combination of severe weather and an insufficient power grid cut off from the rest of the country has created a perfect storm of suffering in Texas this week. Seeing people helping people and animals weather that storm is heartening. Let's just hope they won't have to keep it up for much longer.

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Surf's up, turtle dudes! The sea turtle population is making a comeback.

One of the most heart-pounding moments of the BBC's Planet Earth series has to be the baby sea turtles.

In the last episode of the show's second series, viewers watched cute baby sea turtles emerge from their nests in the sand. Then, our hearts collectively dropped as Sir David Attenborough's voiceover cut in to inform us that the tiny turtles, confused by nearby city lights, were headed the wrong way — straight into traffic.

[rebelmouse-image 19532092 dam="1" original_size="500x281" caption="Why must you play with our hearts, Mr. Attenborough? GIF from "Planet Earth II"/BBC." expand=1]Why must you play with our hearts, Mr. Attenborough? GIF from "Planet Earth II"/BBC.

It's a harrowing scene. The series didn't show how it ended for the babies, but after viewer outcry, the BBC confirmed via Twitter that — in defiance of normal standards — the filmmakers intervened to help direct the turtles back to the sea.

Unfortunately, not every sea turtle has a film crew watching its back, and many species have found themselves in trouble.

Sea turtles face a lot of threats — from poaching, to fishing gear, to habitat destruction. Climate change affects how they nest and breed. A 2015 report suggested that more than half of all the world's sea turtles have accidentally eaten plastic debris.

The IUCN, a world authority on nature conservation, lists three of the world's seven sea turtle species as "endangered" or "critically endangered" and three more as "vulnerable."

Since the 1950s, conservation efforts have tried to address these threats. But have they worked?

A new study shows that sea turtle protection efforts have indeed paid off.

A team of researchers at Greece's Aristotle University headed by Antonios Mazaris analyzed over 4,400 existing estimates of sea turtle numbers, in a report published Sept. 20 in Science Advances.

Their conclusion? Overall, sea turtle numbers around the world are growing. Of the 17 major regions they examined where sea turtle numbers were changing, 12 had seen growth. Only five had significant decreases.

It's enough that a press release about the study called it a "global conservation success story."

[rebelmouse-image 19532093 dam="1" original_size="750x500" caption="Woo! Photo from kormandallas/Pixabay." expand=1]Woo! Photo from kormandallas/Pixabay.

Changes to fishing regulations, beach protections, and other efforts have helped ensure that more baby sea turtles have a chance to see adulthood and that the ocean will be a safer place for adult sea turtles to live.

There's still a lot of work to do, the researchers were careful to note. Some sea turtle populations are still dwindling, there's still a lot to learn, and we definitely shouldn't slack off if we want to see their numbers keep going up.

This study is a reminder that, while humans might cause problems for animals like sea turtles, we also have the power to help fix them as well.

Heroes

What everyone heartbroken over the 'Planet Earth II' turtle episode should know.

On Dec. 11, 2016, animal lovers sat in front of their TVs, devastated at what they saw on the screens in front of them.

It had to do with baby turtles.

"Planet Earth II" — the sequel to BBC's 2006 mega-hit series "Planet Earth" — had documented Hawksbill turtle hatchlings in Barbados.

The series, which aired in the U.K. and is coming to the BBC America this January, culminated in an episode focused on how cities are affecting animal populations around the world.

The Hawksbill turtle — a critically endangered species — was one of the featured creatures. And it was really tough to watch.

The series, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, explained what happens when these hatchlings are born.

When Hawksbill turtles hatch from their eggs at night, their immediate instinct is to go toward the brightest horizon, which — if humans didn't exist — would lead them to the sea (and safety).

This is a Hawksbill turtle hatchling, born in a Jakarta breeding center in 2010. Photo by Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images.

But humans do exist. And our expanding societies have had a dramatic effect on this crucial point in the hatchlings' lives.

As cities continue to sprout up on seashores, their bright lights complicate those first few moments in a hatchling's life. Instead of being drawn toward the sea, hatchlings are drawn toward the artificial lights of the city. This isn't good.

Without human interference, Hawksbill turtles already have a small chance of surviving long-term, according to Carla Daniel, deputy field director of the Barbados Sea Turtle Project. But with this added barrier stopping them from safely reaching the ocean, baby turtles are getting "crushed in the road [or] lost forever in drains," among other not-so-happy endings, on their accidental journeys into the city.

It was a big wake-up call for many distraught "Planet Earth II" viewers.

The outcry among upset viewers spurred responses from the Barbados Sea Turtle Project, which partnered with the BBC during production.

"We know that watching the footage on the 'Cities' episode of 'Planet Earth II' last night was emotional and heartbreaking," the group wrote on its Facebook page. "While it does portray what thousands of hatchlings face every year, we want to reassure you that we do our very best to ensure that as many hatchlings as possible are rescued and no hatchling is ever left behind!"

Baby turtles that were hatched at a conservation center in West Sumatra are released into the ocean. Photo by Adek Berry/AFP/Getty Images.

The "Planet Earth II" team also assured viewers on Twitter that its film crew did, in fact, break protocol and saved any turtles it spotted.

Typically, the crew does everything it can not to engage or disrupt wildlife while filming, but — because this particular tragedy was manmade — they decided to intervene.

The hatchlings' fatal endings served as a learning moment for viewers on the unintended consequences of our modern existence as humans.

Many of our behaviors and technologies have surprising consequences to other species. Light pollution is a great example.

It doesn't just affect baby turtles, after all.

While light pollution may not seem as harmful as, say, pumping pollution into the air or cutting down huge swaths of trees, artificial lighting is responsible for millions of bird deaths each year, according to the International Dark Sky Association. Many birds use moonlight and starlight to hunt and migrate, and bright city lights can throw them off course. Birds may arrive in a new region too early or too late, for instance, and miss the climate conditions they need to survive there.

Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images.

Artificial lighting, which unintentionally draws insects, may create a "fatal attraction" between the tiny creatures and our manmade structures as well. Although insects seem like a nuisance to us, they're often the foundation of the food web in a given habitat. A decline in Insect population can affect whole ecosystems.  

The artificial light problem may seem unconquerable for many devastated "Planet Earth II" viewers. But the last thing we should do is give up.

Take it from Carla Daniel.

“There are many times that everything feels kind of pointless," she explained candidly of the enormous problem of hatchling deaths. "'What's the point in doing this?' This is one of those things where we kind of all have to hold hands and come together and agree to make a difference.”

“If there was one, single thing that was necessary for change, [it's] for you to get up," she noted. "Go out of your house and do something [about it]."

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These 5 turtles being helped back into the ocean will make your day.

This week, five sea turtles from Florida finally got to go home.

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

The adorable be-shelled reptiles spent the last month rehabilitating in the Miami Seaquarium, and on July 12, 2016, were joyfully released back into the ocean where they belong.


"So ready." Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

To make things even more awesome — their names are Presley, Springsteen, Clapton, Jagger, and Trisha.

That's four ultra-famous rockstars and ... honestly, my best guess is Trisha Yearwood of "How Do I Live Without You" fame, which I thought was an interesting choice.

After a quick call to the Seaquarium, though, it turned out she was named after her rescuer.


"Aww yissssss." Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

The turtles had been found washed up on the beaches of Florida.

All five were in various states of poor health at the time. Presley had a hook through his mouth and esophagus, Springsteen and Clapton also had hooks removed from their bodies, and poor Jagger had been hit by a boat.

I honestly don't know if this one is Jagger, but we can pretend. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

Sick or injured turtles washing up on the beach is an all too common occurrence, unfortunately.

While nature already throws a lot at sea turtles, humans haven't exactly been great about keeping sea turtles safe.

Sea turtles are under constant threat from fishing, eroding coastlines, the illegal shell trade, and even artificial light along the coastline.

Marine debris is also a huge problem for turtles. According to the Sea Turtle Conservancy, plastic debris kills around 100,000 marine mammals annually, including turtles.

"See you around, Jenni. Later, Mike, Karen. Say goodbye to Phil for me, OK?" Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

Fortunately Presley, Springsteen, Clapton, Jagger, and Trisha were found and rescued by the right people.

The four rock 'n' roll megastars and the 1998 Grammy winner for Best Female Country Vocal Performance got to return to the ocean where they can live out the rest of their turtle lives in peace.

"HOORAY!" Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

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