National Geographic Kids - USA (2021-12)

24 NAT GEO KIDS^ •^ DECEMBER 2021 / JANUARY 2022

A green

sea turtle can

weigh as much as

six 10-year-old

kids.

BY ALLYSON SHAW

How tireless volunteers saved thousands of sea turtles from a winter storm

A green sea turtle struggles to move its

flippers and lift its head in the chilly

water off the coast of Texas in the Gulf

of Mexico. This water is normally warm,

but a rare, massive cold front has

descended from the Arctic, dropping the

air temperature below freezing and the

water temperature below 50°F. The cold-

blooded marine reptile has been cold-

stunned: Its body has stopped moving,

and it can’t get a breath of air. Without

help, this sea turtle—and thousands of

other green, Kemp’s ridley, and logger-

head sea turtles—will drown.

A conservation group on South Padre

Island is ready to help. On the first day of

the storm, staff and volunteers from

Sea Turtle, Inc., head out on boats to

scoop up the sea turtles bobbing at the

water’s surface. Back on the beach, they

pass sea turtles—some up to 150

pounds—from person to person in a

giant chain. Then they load them onto

trucks and transport them to the orga-

nization’s rescue center.

The group usually rescues only about

a hundred turtles on days when the

weather briefly gets cold. But this

February storm is different: By

the second day, volunteers have

already pulled more than 600

stunned sea turtles from the

water. But the reptiles aren’t out

of danger yet: The frigid temperatures

and ice storms have cut off power and

water in millions of homes and offices—

including at the rescue center.

VOLUNTEERS

CARRY A

60-POUND

STUNNED

GREEN SEA

TURTLE TO

SAFETY.

A GREEN SEA TURTLE

SWIMS IN THE

CARIBBEAN SEA.

Turtle

Sea

»