As Texas continues to reel from freezing temperatures brought on by this year’s winter vortex, humans aren’t the only ones feeling the chill.
Along the coastline, countless sea turtles have been stunned by the life-threatening cold — but thankfully, they haven’t been forgotten.
For them, help is on the way.
Over the last few days, volunteers from Sea Turtle, Inc. on South Padre Island have been working tirelessly to save as many turtles as possible.
Since turtles are cold-blooded they’re unable to regulate their internal temperature, so they’ve been left virtually paralyzed by the frigid weather. Unable to swim or move properly, they are at serious risk of drowning.
Faced with this potential tragedy, volunteers have been scouring the shoreline and are filling their vehicles with turtles to carry them to safety.
My mom is retired, & she spends her winters volunteering at a sea turtle rescue center in south Texas. The cold snap is stunning the local turtles & they’re doing a lot of rescues. She sent me this photo today of the back of her Subaru. It’s *literally* turtles all the way down. pic.twitter.com/xaDRNjLDoQ
— Lara (@lara_hand) February 15, 2021
The South Padre Island Convention Centre and Visitors Bureau has become a temporary shelter for thousands of these rescued turtles — hosting some 3,500 so far.
And that number keeps rising by the hour.
Here’s video from the rescue center, showing turtles as far as the eye can see, getting a much-needed opportunity to warm up and recover their strength:
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