Turtle Troubles
Thursday, January 25, 2007
The Rio Grande Delta is a sub-tropical region, it's not used to extreme drops in temperature. Likewise, the Laguna Madre Bay is a very shallow, and generally warm, bay filled with both flora and fauna unable to survive in unusually cold waters.
Most creatures of the sea are cold blooded, meaning their body temperature is regulated by the surrounding temperature of their environment. If the weather turns cold, the Laguna Madre, as it is so shallow, can quickly drop in temperature as well. This can cause problems for many of our more tropical species of animals living within the bay.
The most obvious is the Sea Turtle, specifically the Green Sea Turtle who spend much of their younger lives hunting the shallows of the bay. When the water turns cold their bodies shut down and can no longer operate. They become extremely lethargic and often times, seemingly dead. They tend to float to the surface of the water and are pushed ashore with the tide.
Free floating these turtles risk drowning or simply freezing to death, but once ashore the turtles are further exposed to the elements and other hardships, such as predation.
On the 19th of January I drove from Rio Grande City to Port Isabel, TX at 4:00 in the morning. I waited for Sunrise, put on my big rubber boats, and started to walk. I walked the bay line from the Causeway to Laguna Heights, searching for beached and stranded turtles. Between my mother and I we found 11 Green Sea Turtles, two of which were dead. One had a broken shell, the other attacked by Coyotes. The 9 surviving were taken to the University of Texas Pan-American Coastal Studio Laboratory on South Padre Island where they will be kept with over a 100 more turtles until the water warms up enough to release them.
Along with the turtles though we also observed a fish kill, many Spade-Fish, Needle Fish, and Cowfish were found washed up along the shore. Also Banded Tulip Snails and even a Spiny Lobster were recovered, alive, and taken to my Mom's South Padre Island Nature Center.
It was an exhausting day, but without a doubt, worthwhile.
posted by Seth Patterson @ 6:39 PM,
