Texas Gulf Coast Cold Snap Update: TPWD hasn't reported on fish fatalities yet because of the cold snap but I suspect the southern portions of the Laguna Madre escaped a major die off.

Brownsville Tony Loc: Brownsville - Laguna Madre

TPWD hasn't reported on fish fatalities yet because of the cold snap but I suspect the southern portions of the Laguna Madre escaped a major die off. I'm sure north of Corpus Christie is a different story, unfortunately. What has happened, and reported BIG TIME is the rescue of 3,500 sea turtles. Here in Brownsville we have hundreds, if not thousands of sea turtles on gym floors, warehouses, auditoriums, tended by volunteer forces. Not sure yet how effective this will be, but the alternative would have been pure disaster. The weather is moderating daily, we will be in the high 40's to low 50's this afternoon. There is another cold front due in Thursday night to Friday morning but not as severe as the earlier one. Our unique environment is so terribly fragile and a 70 year event like this could have a terrible milestone. Let's hope it wasn't.

saw1 Loc: nor cal Windsor

Brownsville Tony wrote:

TPWD hasn't reported on fish fatalities yet becaus... (show quote)

This isn't the first time they've had to rescue the turtles.
They had an episode on Lone Star Law awhile back where they were doin the same thing then.

ripogenu Loc: norfolk, MA

Brownsville Tony wrote:

TPWD hasn't reported on fish fatalities yet becaus... (show quote)

glad to see they're helping keep the environment viable. Sea turtles are an important part of the eco system.

fishinphil

im all for saving wildlife...too bad we cant keep our garbage out of the oceans though.Must be real tiring to have to lug the empty back into our homes via the vehicle or bike we rode to the park, beach, ocean side or lake because its just not on our dna to do so, when you can simply dump it whereever and leave it for someone elses problem i guess.

Brownsville Tony Loc: Brownsville - Laguna Madre

We have several fishing clubs involved in site clean-ups here in Brownsville. They descend on some out-of-the-way beach and when they are done the rocks are polished. God bless them. I support 4Oceans even though it is a for-profit company. They provide work opportunities for the local residents and haul a tremendous amount of trash from the oceans. But you're right, we're the ones who have to take care of our fishing waters.

kandydisbar Loc: West Orange, NJ

Nice to see wildlife rescue

woodNfish Loc: Laconia, New Hampshire

The turtles would have been fine without tw interfering. They've been around for millions of years and through plenty of cold snaps. Unfortunately, Texas like most other states has a bunch of people who think only they can protect animals in nature and then thecrest of us suckers get to pay forctheir follies.

From Aquatic Life Lab:
Although turtles are cold-blooded, which means their body temperature varies with ambient temperature, they regulate their body temperature by controlling the blood flow in the skin and fins. Moreover, a layer of blubber is protecting them from cold water and they can also sunbathe on the surface to warm up. In the winter months, when the sea is coldest, sea turtles are resting on muddy sea bottom. During this resting condition, called hibernation, they are expending minimal energy and rarely emerge to the surface to breathe. They have lungs for breathing, just like any other vertebrate, but they only spend five percent of their time on the sea surface.

FishinLeprechaun Loc: Port Isabel, Tx

Your ignorance preceeds you, these turtles are stunned by the cold and WILL die on shorelines without help from many brave persons who wade out to retreive them in the shallows.
The turtles are unable to navigate themselves and are doomed without intervention.
Most of the people involved are fishermen and not the tree huggers.

redfish6547 Loc: Rockport Texas

I live in Rockport 30 miles north of Corpus. The fish kill is pretty bad in my area . It's still to early to tell how bad it is but reports are not encouraging.

saw1 Loc: nor cal Windsor

FishinLeprechaun wrote:

Your ignorance preceeds you, these turtles are stunned by the cold and WILL die on shorelines without help from many brave persons who wade out to retreive them in the shallows.
The turtles are unable to navigate themselves and are doomed without intervention.
Most of the people involved are fishermen and not the tree huggers.

Also the ones that are actually out in the deeper water lose the ability to swim and aren't able to resurface for air and they drown. The boaters are just goin around and pickin them up out of the water and they can hardly move.

Brownsville Tony Loc: Brownsville - Laguna Madre

woodNfish - Your observations would be correct except for one thing, the Laguna Madre isn't the ocean. It is a body of water trapped on one side by the coastal plain and on the other side by an island that runs for several hundred miles. The average depth of that body of water is about 4'. The average water temperature in February is 63 degrees and gradually rises to 85 degrees in August. A drastic change in air temperature changes the water temperature very quickly. The muddy bottom that should provide shelter is just slightly warmer than the surface. Yes, Texans who know their own environment (a bunch of people?) are trying to save our wildlife and we'll try to keep the cost as low as possible to suckers for our follies. Thanks for your help.

Brownsville Tony Loc: Brownsville - Laguna Madre

Howdy - If you posted a new guy thing I missed seeing it. I fish out of Port Isabel a couple days a week. Keep my boat over at South Point. I'm retired so I can fish whenever I want to, but I usually go out from mid-day for a couple or three hours. If you want to get together PM me and we'll meet up somewhere. Tony

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

fishinphil wrote:

im all for saving wildlife...too bad we cant keep our garbage out of the oceans though.Must be real tiring to have to lug the empty back into our homes via the vehicle or bike we rode to the park, beach, ocean side or lake because its just not on our dna to do so, when you can simply dump it whereever and leave it for someone elses problem i guess.

My wife is a bird veterinarian, when we see a dead bird she can't help but look to see if it has an obvious cause of death, she gets lit up when it's a six pack holder or fishing line...the two leading causes

woodguru Loc: El Dorado Ca

FishinLeprechaun wrote:

Your ignorance preceeds you, these turtles are stunned by the cold and WILL die on shorelines without help from many brave persons who wade out to retreive them in the shallows.
The turtles are unable to navigate themselves and are doomed without intervention.
Most of the people involved are fishermen and not the tree huggers.

That was very diplomatically spoken...I would think tree huggers would be endangered in Texas, not very welcome of you catch my drift. Plus Texas may be looked at by hardcore liberals as a lost cause.

It would be a shame not to be able to make turtle soup out of any that don't make it...just sayin

cgap Loc: Central Tx

Wow! Quite the gamet of opinions here. Some want to let 100s, maybe 1000s perish. Others want to make turtle soup. While others want to rescue turtles affected by the cold. And yes, the Texas coast is different, probably different than any other in the nation. The sudden cold snap in shallow water kills fish and turtles, and other wild life. POConnnor reported a fish kill, plus several turtles. Very small area, not the last report. I'm not a tree hugger, I hunt and fish, but what the people are doing, and I'm pretty sure most are volunteer, is saving wildlife that otherwise would perish by the 1000s. And our winter may not be over. Feb is usually when we get cold fronts moving in with regularity. Hope this doesn't kill a large amount of fish. I would have loved to caught some of those dead fish at Port O'Connor.