The Mid-Coast Sea Turtle Rescue (MCSTR) was initiated after Winter Storm Uri in February 2021 when over 550 sea turtles died in our Mid-Coast bays due to cold stunning. The program has over 90 volunteers with boats and vehicles who search, rescue, and transport turtles from Port O’Connor & Seadrift to the Texas State Aquarium Wildlife Rescue Center in Corpus Christi, and from Matagorda to the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research in Galveston. The Mid-Coast Sea Turtle Rescue also answers the call for reports of injured or dead turtles through the Texas Sea Turtle Hotline (866-887-8535, option 3).
Cold stunning events occur when the water temperature in our shallow bays drops below 46.4 degrees F and remains there for 24 hours or more. Being cold-blooded animals, turtles become stunned and can not move in the cold water. Since they breath air like we do, they will drown when they are unable to lift their heads above the water. Unable to move, they float to the surface and can get hit by boats. They get pushed by the wind and become stranded throughout our bays on shorelines. So, our Mid-Coast Sea Turtle Rescue (MCSTR) volunteers rescue them!
Interested in Volunteering? We need boats, boat crew and ground transporters. Sea turtles are a protected species and all volunteers must be trained and added to the federal permit Each Year. If you helped last year, you will need to take the training again. If you are new, let us know how you’d like to help. MCSTR operates as defined by the NOAA Incident Action Plan
The mandatory training is provided via webinar annually by the NOAA’s Sea Turtle Stranded and Salvage Network Texas State Coordinator each fall. MCSTR volunteers who complete the mandatory training are also asked to attend the MCSTR Annual Meeting. It is at this meeting where volunteers learn the local processes specific to our Mid-Coast bays.
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For more information or to volunteer, Contact Us.
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