Texas
Thousands of sea turtles unused to the plunge in temperatures have been washing up on the beaches of South Padre Island, off the southern coast of Texas.
Volunteers have brought some 4,700 of them to a convention center, where they are being kept in tubs and enclosures before they can be released when the water is warmer.
Millions of Texans have been left without heat due to energy blackouts in the state triggered by a cold spell in which both air and water temperatures have dropped well below typical levels.
Video shot by Ed Caum, executive director of the South Padre Island Convention and Visitors Bureau, shows volunteers carefully placing the animals on a trolley, and then the convention center floor covered in turtles of all shapes and sizes.
Caum refers to the turtles as being “cold-stunned” – a condition where cold-blooded animals suddenly exhibit hypothermic reactions such as lethargy and an inability to move when the temperature in the environment around them drops.
Good morning from the South Padre Island Convention Center. Day three of sea turtle rescue operations continue. We got power and water back at 3 o’clock last night. We are probably somewhere in the neighborhood of upwards of 2,500 turtles. We’ve expanded down both wings. The heat is coming back up in the corridor.—AFP
