Warm Weather Update

You have heard me telling you that the weather has been rather cold the last couple of days.  Well it probably has been a week or so since we have had any nice weather.  Bev and I were thinking that someday soon, we should head over to the turtle rescue place. They probably have a lot of cold stunned turtles that they are warming up and they may be having a release soon.  We were at one of their public releases last year and it was quite interesting.  You can read all about it here.

This morning I was sitting at the kitchen table reading when our neighbour came over.  She had just came back into the park and the fellow at the guard-house had told her there was going to be a turtle release today and she wanted me to know.  I thanked her very much, put on my shoes, grabbed my camera and out the door I went.

A short walk down the beach and I was in the action.  There was a pickup truck on the beach, backed down near the water’s edge.  It’s tail gate was open and the box was full of turtles. There were a number of vans and SUVs parked on the road near the beach access with people carrying turtles down to the water.  It was quite something to see. It looks like there is going to be another release on Monday.  I think will take that one in too.

Here are a few pictures from this morning.

We are letting him go for good behaviour.

Wait for me.

Let me go, I can see the sea.

Will you people hurry up, I really got to go.

One last hug for you and then you have to go.

I’ll smile and you can take my picture.

I really liked my hospital stay, now it’s time to go.

I can see my brother. Please put me down so I can say Hi?

Which one of you is next?

OK, if you put me down I won’t flap my fins anymore.

As you can tell from the pictures above, the sun was out today and it had warmed up.  It was also the day they lifted the fishing ban.  Over the last few days there has been a fishing ban in parts of the bay and around the jetty so today the fishers were out. It seems fish can get cold stunned just like the turtles.  Families were out enjoying the beautiful weather. I suspect they were getting the last bit of family time in before the kids go back to school.  It was nice to see everyone out enjoying themselves.

On that last picture you might have noticed a white bird.  We think it is a snowy egret. It hung around for quite some time, hopping up and down the jetty.  Looking for food.  The same food the fishers were aiming to catch.

Most of the poles were cast on the other side of the jetty, the channel side, where there was some boat action.  There are always boats to be seen going into and out of the channel. This channel gives access to Brownsville as well as Port Isabel.  From Port Isabel there will be dolphin tours and party tours, as well shrimp boats come from Brownsville.  Today there was a Coast Guard boat tearing up the water.  I am not sure where they were going or why they were going so fast.  But they were certainly flying.

Since we have been here we have notice some objects on the horizon. They look like long poles sticking out of the water.  They don’t move and are to far away to get a good look with the binoculars.  Well this afternoon after all the turtle excitement, I noticed one much closer to shore.  In fact it looked like it was going to go through the channel.  I had to get a closer look and snap a few pictures.  It turns out it was the “Lift Boat” Dularge. A little poking around on the internet tells me it is an offshore support vessel. Which really doesn’t tell me much. I was really interested knowing what support it actually provided.  I guess it will remain a mystery.

That’s all for todays update.  Stay tuned for more pictures, maybe, of Mondays turtle release.