For a second winter in a row, freezing overnight temperatures in Florida put marinelife at risk.In a recurrence of the cold snap in January 2010, Florida ornamental marine fish and coral farmerORAjumped into action last week to serve as a warming center for marine sea turtles, stunned by the extreme cold. As the last of the well-rested (and toasty warm) sea turtles are returned to the water just before Christmas hits, we talked with Dustin Dorton of ORA to get the inside scoop on ORA’s participation in this seasonal sea turtle rescue.
佛罗里达州周围的组织有效地应对危机中的海龟，在海滩上或大多数Ora救援时，都会发现昏昏欲睡的海龟，在印度河和蚊子泻湖中漂浮。简而言之，如果一只乌龟在救援人员抓住它时没有试图逃脱，则认为乌龟被视为震惊并带来特殊护理。
“It’s hard to say exactly how many turtles we housed this time around,” said Dorton. “Every day [FWC] would bring some in, and others would leave.” Dorton estimates at least 100 sea turtles recuperated in multiple 5,000 gallon holding tanks at ORA.
ORA has found itself moving up the list of organizations the FWC (Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission) calls in emergencies. “I’m not a turtle expert, but I ask the FWC questions when they’re not too busy to be annoyed,” disclaimed a humble Dorton, but we think the ORA staff is learning quickly.
Last winter, over 5,000 turtles affected by plummeting temperatures were housed around the state, sometimes in warehouses, for days. Dorton relayed that the dry storage prevents these turtles from drowning and allows them to warm up but it exacerbates the digestion problems caused by the frigid waters. As the turtles start to warm many of them are full of gas and are too buoyant to swim below the surface, leaving them vulnerable to predators and boat strikes.
Before these turtles can be released, they have to be warmed to around 70F, and their digestive tracks emptied. This is most effectively accomplished in large, warm water holding situations that only a few facilities can provide. The multiple 5,000 gallon systems at ORA’s disposal are the remnants of a shrimp farming operation — too large for ornamental fish culture, but perfectly suited for housing dozens of cold-stunned turtles in the ideal manner.
While the building and facility has been empty for over a year, Dorton said, “we can fill and heat on short notice.” This time around, most of the turtles that came to ORA were able to skip the “dry dock” procedure, instead coming directly to ORA, getting a bit of re-hydration and warm spa treatment during their short stay.
Another new activity in this recent rescue effort was the FWC program of PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tagging all the turtles for more reliable tracking. FWC staff was in the lead, cataloging turtles from collection point to release, even tracking movement between holding tanks. Any wild turtle that wasn’t already tagged (the vast majority of turtles rescued lacked tags this year) got tagged. An interesting side note — all the turtles that passed through ORA’s doors this time around were juveniles possibly being the first time they were encountered by the FWC.
在海洋水族馆行业受到局外人的审查越来越多的时候，我们很荣幸能在我们中间拥有ORA。绝对值得一提的是，这项乌龟救援行动的所有劳动都是自由捐赠的，迄今为止，ORA尚未获得与努力相关的任何费用的补偿。ORA在当地的海洋保护工作中进行的投资像这种乌龟救援一样值得称赞，他们得到的业余爱好者和行业支持肯定使他们的慷慨成为可能。所有的海龟都知道它们还活着，正如达斯汀·多顿（Dustin Dorton）提醒我们（和乌龟）时，“这只是冬季的开始，而奥拉（Ora）就在准备就绪，如果紧急袭击当地海龟。”我们代表所有海龟和海洋水族徒，我们想说谢谢Ora。
