Port Aransas to Release Hundreds of Rescued Sea Turtles

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There are some 600 to 700 sea-turtles who have been the guests of the Port Aransas auditorium since the winter storms of last week who are anxious to go back to their regular habitat.

When the winter weather started to set in, KRISTV.com reports that rescuers in Port Aransas started saving around 100 turtles per day, then they suddenly got 1,200 in one day! They were some ice-cold turtles looking to get away from the subfreezing temps! Reports say almost all the recovered turtles were green sea turtles.

Now that the winter weather has passed, the job begins of getting these turtles back to their home. That is the task at hand for today as authorities in Port Aransas will start by attempting to re-introduce about 300 turtles back to the sea depending on how the water acts today.

Jace Tunnell, who is the reserve director at the UT Marine Science Institute, spoke to KRISTV.com and said of the rescue efforts, "This is why we do this job is saving the animals. When something like this happens when we have historic low water and air temperatures it can devastate some of the animals that aren’t used to that type of thing."

With the extreme temps in the area for several days, the storm could have had a deadly impact on the population of South Texas sea turtles. Many thanks are being sent to folks like Jace and everyone working hard all week at the Port Aransas auditorium. The turtles sure appreciate all you are doing and so do we!