Cold Stunned Turtle Update Via Dr. Donna Shaver

From 29 December 2014 through 5 January 2015, 8 cold stunned green turtles have been found in Texas. Continued cold temperatures are predicted for the next week. Earlier during the 2014-2015 cold stunning season (from 13 November 2014 through 7 December 2014), 240 live and dead cold stunned sea turtles were found in Texas. The numbers of cold stunned turtles found to date during the 2014-2015 cold stunning season are as follows: All were green turtles except for one loggerhead and one Kemp’s ridley turtle. Area Total Galveston Area/ Inshore 5 Lavaca/San Antonio Bay 35 Copano Bay 6 San Jose Island 2 Mustang Island/Aransas Pass 34 Upper Laguna Madre/Corpus Christi Bay 89 Padre Island National Seashore Gulf Beach 0 Lower Laguna Madre 77 Boca Chica Beach 0 TOTAL 248 Condition Total Alive 198 Dead 50 TOTAL 248 Thank you to staff and volunteers from the National Park Service, ARK, Sea Turtle, Inc., Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Sea World San Antonio, NOAA-Fisheries, Texas Sea Life Center, Texas Master Naturalists, Gladys Porter Zoo, University of Texas, Texas State Aquarium, other organizations, and private citizens for their help to find, document, rehabilitate, and release cold stunned turtles on the Texas coast this year. Please watch for and report cold stunned sea turtles on the Texas coast. To report cold stunned turtles (found alive or dead) please call 361-949-8173, ext. 226 (business hours) or 361-876-8462 (after hours) if you are at/near the Upper Laguna Madre and North Padre Island. If you are at/near Corpus Christi Bay and Mustang Island, call the ARK at 361-749-6793 (business hours) or Tony Amos at 361-442-7638. Elsewhere in Texas, call 1-866-TURTLE5 to get the appropriate contact number for your region.