After the cold

Florida's weather is getting back to normal, after a week of record-breaking temperatures that affected people and critters alike (although like the rest of you, I feel guilty complaining about ANYTHING when I read of the devestation in Haiti). When last I wrote, the sea turtle rescue effort was just getting started, and I spoke in terms of a couple of hundred - turns out that some 4,000+ sea turtles were rescued in the state, and the majority were from Volusia and Brevard counties. It was a herculean rescue effort headed up by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) folks, aided by hundreds of volunteers ranging from organizations like our friends at the Sea Turtle Preservation Society (STPS) and Brevard Zoo to the duck hunters described in Bill Sargent's article in Florida Today newspaper (see Related Links below).

Turtle photographer extraordinaire, Jim Angy, has provided us with some wonderful pix of rescues and releases. I'll compile them into a slideshow soon, but I wanted to share a couple with you now. This first one is of a truckbed full of cold-stunned sea turtles, mostly greens. FWC examined, weighed, measured, tagged, and logged EVERY rescued turtle. The poor cold creatures were then parsed out to any facility that could provide a warm environment for them. Indeed, this logistical effort will provide stories for years to come, along with tales of kind people who kept the sea turtles' eyes sprayed with water and provided whatever other creature comforts they could. (I'm one of those people who firmly believes that creatures know and appreciate those who are trying to help. I also believe Heaven is run by critters, children, and old people, but that's another story.)

This next photo shows STPS friend Roger releasing an eager sea turtle back into the Lagoon south of Sebastian Inlet later in the week, once the waters started to warm up. Jim tells me the turtles took off like bullets once they hit the water.

However, this one lingered for a glamour shot!

Our thanks and sincere admiration to all who participated in this rescue effort, and special recognition to FWC for their ability to react so quickly, efficiently, and effectively.

Related Links:

Bill Sargent's story in Florida Today