The strong cold front that blanketed the state earlier this week led cold-stunned sea turtles to turn up on shore around the Laguna Madre on South Padre Island.
The nonprofit organization Sea Turtle Inc. said Thursday it recovered nearly 1,000 turtles.
It planned to release the turtles back into the Laguna Madre on Friday afternoon — the largest public sea turtle release in the organization's history.
Turtles have been recovered from shores along Port Isabel, South Padre Island, Boca Chica and in the shipping channel between Port Isabel and Brownsville.
#Coldstun 1/17/24: more than 74 additional sea turtles were rescued, with more on the way.
— Sea Turtle, Inc. (@SeaTurtleInc) January 17, 2024
We have updated our Amazon wish list with our immediate needs: https://t.co/YRh2qS2iNU
If you find a stranded sea turtle call us immediately at our 24/7 number 956-243-4361. pic.twitter.com/LzcpiWlwBj
Sea Turtle staffers worked with volunteers and Texas Parks and Wildlife workers to collect dozens of turtles throughout the week.
As sea turtles came into Sea Turtle Inc., they were tagged, measured and assessed for injuries by staff.
Some turtles will take a few weeks to recover, depending on the severity of their stun and if they have injuries.
Sea Turtle Inc’s facilities can hold up to 600 turtles, but staff believe the final count will likely be lower.
“This will be more similar to some cold-stunning that we had in the beginning of 2022,” said Tess DeSerisy, conservation field supervisor for Sea Turtle Inc., earlier this week. “So that's like roughly around 100 patients. So that's kind of what we are planning on and planning for. But we're always ready just in case it's a little bit bigger than we expect.”
During a winter freeze in February 2021, Sea Turtle Inc, Laguna Madre area residents and volunteers across the country recovered more than 5,000 sea turtles in what would be the largest cold stun event in recorded history.
Marian Navarro contributed to this report.
