CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Freezing temperatures earlier this month killed more than 100 sea turtles in the Coastal Bend.
That is significantly less than how many died from the February 2021 freeze, with numbers in the thousands. But it still means the turtles need to be buried properly.
Nueces County Coastal Parks Director Scott Cross said it is an organized effort with multiple regional partners coming together to bury them. They have protocols to follow to make sure it is done the right way. Efforts are also made to keep those burial sites safe.
"We've always looked at it this way, they were hatched on the Island, so let's give them a proper burial back on the Island," Cross said.
He said regional partners like the Texas State Aquarium, Amos Rehabilitation Keep, Texas Sealife Center and Padre Island National Seashore come together with Nueces County to properly dispose of deceased sea turtles after a freeze. He explained how the process works.
"We get out ahead of those folks bringing us the turtles and we prep the site," Cross said. "They bring them in, we make sure the count is right, have all the observers there, record the lat[itude}, long[itude] of the site, cover it back up and boom, we're out."
Cross said almost 6,000 sea turtles were buried because of the February 2021 freeze. That is compared to 117 sea turtles this month. He said there are designated areas they know they can take them to be buried, which are all on Nueces County land.
"That's not the romantic side of sea turtle rescue, sea turtle rehab, but it's a necessary side, you know, it's got to be done right," Cross said.
There are a limited number of people that know where the buried turtles are. Cross said that is so the sites are protected, since people might take their shells.
"You just never know with people, and so, why even create that nuisance. When we do it, we keep it low-key," Cross said.
Cross also explained when these situations happen, the county gets an idea of how many sea turtles died that need to be buried. That helps them determine what size the burial site needs to be.
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