GALVESTON, Texas — Texas A&M Galveston professor and Director of the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research Dr. Marshall Christopher and his team set out in the winter weather last weak to save the Galveston Bay sea turtles.
Since then, they've saved around 70 sea turtles, and on February 23rd, they were able to release 25 of those back into the water about 13 miles offshore.
Why was this saving necessary?
Sea turtles are reptiles so they are cold-blooded. This means when the temperature of the water drop below 50 degrees °F, the sea turtles start to slow down, stop eating and go hypothermic.
“It’s just like you and I can go hypothermic if we were out in the snow, running around in fifteen-degree temperatures, eventually, we’d slow down and stop eating and stop moving too," said Dr. Marshall.
Dr. Marshall said since the hospital is so new, their resources are already depleted. If you'd like to help the hospital out, here are some ways to donate:
If you would like to purchase supplies for our hospital on the TAMUG campus please consider purchasing from our Amazon Wish List:
Support is needed helping us train the sea turtle biologists of tomorrow. Consider donating $25, $50 or more to our "Spirit of Giving" campaign to fund undergraduate student internships:
Last, any donations can be provided to the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research using this link:
Dr. Marshall mentioned that this all wouldn't be possible without their partnerships with the Texas Park and Wildlife Department, the Galveston Bay Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist, and the Houston Zoo.