TBD on Ning
Cold in Florida taking its Toll
I stated to post his in my travel blog, but decided to put it here in hopes more people would see it.
Something totally unexpected, to me me at least, is happening here on the East coast of Florida.
Marine aniamals are starting to perish from the cold. I walked out to the bank of the Bannana River here near CocoA beach this afternoon and was very surprised. There are lots of dead fish littering the sand. There was even a sea turtle up on the sand. I nudged it with my shoe and it moved a little bit. Ok, so here I am with a member of an endangered species obiously in trouble and I have no idea what to do. Should I drag it further up on the sand? Should I put it back in the water? Should I just leave it alone and let nature take it's course?
I went to the park office and ask the attendent there what to do. He made a call and a little bit later a marine biologist called back. By that time we had found two more. The biologist said to bring them inside. Well, they are pretty small. So we got a large cooler and put the three in it and put it in the park office. I knew that the manitees come into the boat canals when the water gets cold, but they are mamals. I always thought that cold blooded animals were not much effected , long term, by cold. Guess I was wrong. Do we have any tbd members who have any special knowledge about this?
Something totally unexpected, to me me at least, is happening here on the East coast of Florida.
Marine aniamals are starting to perish from the cold. I walked out to the bank of the Bannana River here near CocoA beach this afternoon and was very surprised. There are lots of dead fish littering the sand. There was even a sea turtle up on the sand. I nudged it with my shoe and it moved a little bit. Ok, so here I am with a member of an endangered species obiously in trouble and I have no idea what to do. Should I drag it further up on the sand? Should I put it back in the water? Should I just leave it alone and let nature take it's course?
I went to the park office and ask the attendent there what to do. He made a call and a little bit later a marine biologist called back. By that time we had found two more. The biologist said to bring them inside. Well, they are pretty small. So we got a large cooler and put the three in it and put it in the park office. I knew that the manitees come into the boat canals when the water gets cold, but they are mamals. I always thought that cold blooded animals were not much effected , long term, by cold. Guess I was wrong. Do we have any tbd members who have any special knowledge about this?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by CWO3ROBBIE on
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I'm not sure. They are in the park office, not in my RV. I'll probably go check in a little bit.
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Permalink Reply by TeeBubbaDee on
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Sounds like you may have saved thier lives Robbie. You did good!!
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Permalink Reply by Whiny Old Bastard on
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Nah they just aren't used to it being this cold for this long.
They are Florida turtles.
It looks like a young Loggerhead
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Permalink Reply by HAVE_A_HEART on
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If it is a loggerhead--it is an extremely endangered creature! There are less then 2500 known loggerheads left in the world. U did good Robbie! We know where your heart is!
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are you sure? Maybe you are thinking of some other species.
I found this on wiki.
Loggerhead turtles are the most common sea turtle to nest in the United States. Loggerheads nest from Texas to North Carolina, requiring soft sandy beaches, where there is little light pollution; with the largest concentration of nests in south Florida. Statistics collected in Florida since 1998 however indicate the lowest nesting levels Florida has seen in 17 years, where nesting rates have declined from 85,988 nests in 1998 to approximately 45,084 in 2007.[5]
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If they weren't too cold for too long, they may recover. They are surprisingly resilient.
Cold blooded reptiles have no internal thermometer, they can't regulate their body temp like warm blooded animals, us for example.
Their body temperature will be whatever the temperature of the surrounding air or water is.
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Yeh, I went down to the office to check on them and a woman from the Turtle Hospital had been there and took them with her. She said she thought the would survive. I really am suprised though. I know that fresh water turtles survive the winters in West virginia snd it sure gets a lot colder there than it is here. I'm suspicious that there might be something more than the cold at work here. There are lots of fish washed up on the sand.
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I doubt it. Turtles in northern climates hibernate in the mud at the bottom of whatever body of water that they live in, or in burrows if they are tortoises. That is how they survive. Sea turtles are unable to do that. Tropical fish species aren't equipped to deal with cold water either. Evolution.
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Believe it Kevin. I am in the Tampa/St Pete area and have blankets and plastic covers on many of my plants and cacti. There are many that are way to big to cover, but I hope the large ones will survive even if they do end up being damaged from the cold. It is low 40's rght now, but predicted to get down to 28 overnight.
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Permalink Reply by Kittycat on
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You have a big heart Robbie. Thank you for noticing them and then for taking action. Most people, I'm afraid, would have just left them there to fend for themselves... :)
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Permalink Reply by larry kremis on
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Kudos Robbie. Thanks for the education Orian.
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