Cruising the beach on Matagorda Peninsula, Krista Stroope came across a sea turtle on the shore. “I’ve been coming here for eight years, and I’ve never seen a sea turtle before. We didn’t exactly know what to do. It didn’t look like it was doing very well.” Krista said. “We heard there was hotline but didn’t know what it was.” They ‘Googled’ it and called the number. “We got someone in Florida, but they gave us the number for Texas.” her friend Brittany McCrary explained. Answering the 866-Turtle5 hotline, Denise Crane took the call, asked for the location, GPS, and photos then called all the boat captains on the summer volunteer list for the Mid-Coast Sea Turtle Rescue.
Unfortunately, none were available. One last call, to Otto and Alane Haardt, however, was successful. Otto and Alane, legendary good-hearted POC locals, sprang into action.
When they reached the Big Jetty, they found the gulf waves to be too much for their bay boat, so the Stroope family helped them dock on the bayside and took Otto to the sick turtle on the gulf beach. As the group was helping the stranded turtle, a man brought them a second, smaller turtle that he’d found further down near the jetty. In the meantime, Alane made a call to Nancy Ladshaw to recruit some shore-side help. When the two turtles were brought to the Fishing Center, Nancy’s young & strong grandson, Jody Haines and his friends Jesse Rubio and Blaine Tompkins were there to help lift & carry the large turtle to Denise & Rusty Crane’s vehicle. (The big one was nearly 3 ft long and weighed in at 137 lbs!)
Turtle transport partner Steve Plant, volunteer with Keep Aransas County Beautiful, met the Cranes at the DQ in Tivoli. Denise recruited some DQ patrons to help lift the ‘big guy’ into Steve’s truck and away they went another hour and a half to the ARK (Amos Rehabilitation Keep) in Port Aransas. As of this writing, the turtles are both surviving. Unfortunately, veterinarians still do not know what is afflicting the loggerhead turtles. Last year a record number of loggerheads (over 400) were stranded or found dead on Texas Beaches. Most were under weight and malnourished. So far this season, the Mid-Coast Sea Turtle Rescue has responded to 9 turtle reports. Besides these 2 live turtles, there have been 7 deads reported. Reporting dead turtles provides important information to the scientists who are studying these beautiful animals.
It takes all of us to help these beautiful animals. Put this number in your contacts now 866-887-8535 (866-Turtle5). Option 3 calls a Mid-Coast volunteer directly. If you see a sea turtle on the beach (alive or dead) please call as soon as possible. If you’d like to help rescue turtles email us at MidCoastSeaTurtleRescue@gmail.com
The Mid-Coast Sea Turtle Rescue is a program sponsored by San Antonio Bay Partnership, a grass-roots organization who’s mission is to protect, restore and enhance the natural resources of the San Antonio Bay System for the benefit of the ecosystem and its human uses. www.SABayPartnership.org/Sea-Turtle-Rescue
