The Texan polar vortex has brought about a myriad of problems for the state. People have experienced power outages and have come to experience what it’s like living without access to water. This rare phenomenon has made life hard for the folks in Texas. Then, there are the animals that have suffered as well. Everyone became a victim, but despite the problems that came with the weather, there are still selfless men and women who have joint forces to save the helpless – the animals that have no means to aid themselves.
In the midst of the latest natural mishap, heroic efforts can be seen by those who have taken upon themselves to ensure everyone’s safety during this severe cold snap. Our warm-blooded brothers and sisters have also noticed how their cold-blooded friends, the turtles, don’t have the ability to save themselves during the polar vortex. The freezing temperatures had left them homeless and on the brink of death. Hence, volunteers at Sea Turtle Inc. rehabilitation center rescued a total of 4,900 sea turtles from the cold.
The men have banded with the local community on South Padre Island in the Gulf. The turtles, if left unaided, would have died from what experts call “cold stunning.” Simply put, the turtles would eventually fall into coma if the water temperatures drop below 50° Fahrenheit.
Normally, the normally warm lagoon off the south tip of Texas would be a place where sea turtles thrived all throughout the year. While these reptiles are considered migratory, but they have made the area their permanent home. Unfortunately, the place lost power and the men immediately knew that they needed to step in and help.
With the efforts made by volunteers, they were able to collect up 1,700 turtles within a few days. They lined the creatures up in rows on tarps that they had built in a convention center near the area. The space was donated for this specific emergency as the community put all their efforts into helping the turtles get out of their comatose state. They warmed them up using small children’s pools and by the day’s end, there were 3,500 turtles in the makeshift ITCU.
In the Gulf, on the other hand, Texas game wardens made use of patrol boats to manually fish out hundreds of turtles that have lost the ability to move their flippers because of the freezing water. Wendy Knight, executive director of Sea Turtle Inc, said that another thousand cold-stunned turtles had been brought in. A few of these species were in fact very old. One of which was a 150-year-old turtle that weighed an impressive 400 pounds.
Knight shared to NPR, “The love and support of people who just want to help things that can’t help themselves is overwhelming.”
Then, there was Gina McLellan, a 71-year-old professor and volunteer spoke to The Washington Post and said, “It is a huge, huge community effort. We very often don’t even think about the [cold’s] impact on animals, because we’re so worried about our own electricity and water. With this kind of event, it’s a classic display of humanity toward animals.”
SpaceX to the Rescue
SpaceX’s Boca Chica launch facility also came to the rescue. They donated a big commercial generator to Sea Turtle Inc. This was used to power the heating of the large tanks and the equipment in the hospital.
Knight had witnessed all these and had been inspired. “This kind of reach out from our community sponsors at SpaceX, there are no words to explain the gratitude we have. They came to us in our darkest hour of need, and got us a generator that was complex to find, and even more complex to wire into our system,” she elaborated. SpaceX employees had also rescued nearly another thousand turtles by themselves.
When Texas finally got their electricity back, Knight further discovered how the storm had damaged or ruined all 10 heaters and coolers that had been serviced for these large community tanks. To help further help the turtles, Sea Turtle Inc. organized a fundraiser for either the repairs or replacements. To date, they now have 25 percent of their target.
Knight also gave an update to those concerned and she described how it had been “a calm quiet day” at the makeshift hospital.She explained how they have survived the largest cold-stunning event in recorded history. To her, it felt like an Armageddon. Had it not been for the impressive influx of helping hands, money, and other resources, this herculean effort helped save the future of these sea turtles.
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