Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

The news along the TX coast during late winter and early spring was the high number of sea turtle strandings.

:12—A stranded sea turtle is one that is found washed ashore, or floating. It can be alive or dead, but if it’s alive, it’s generally in a weakened condition.

Dr. Donna Shaver is with the US National Park Service and specializes in sea turtle research and conservation at Padre Island National Seashore. Between 250 and 750 sea turtles end up stranded each year, but Dr. Shaver says 2010 got off to an alarming start.

:18—We have already started out the year at a record pace. We had the largest cold-stunning event that’s been recorded since 1980. There were about 460 green sea turtles that were located stranded, and two loggerheads, during this particular event—January into February.

When I spoke with Dr. Shaver in late April, she said 76 sea turtles had stranded from the upper to the lower coast between April 4 and 24th

:15—One of the things that’s caught the attention for the spike on the upper Texas coast is that 20 of the 21 turtles were Kemp’s Ridley; whereas, those found elsewhere in the state were more of a mixture of other species.

The cause of the strandings is under investigation, and Dr. Shaver says it could be anything from predators, to fishing nets, to boat propellers, to debris.

Our show receives support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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