Southwest
Texas aquarium is rescuing cold-stunned turtles amid historic chilly weather
An aquarium in Texas has been rehabilitating hundreds of turtles while a historic cold wave sweeps across Texas.
The Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi initiated a large-scale response aimed at preserving sea turtle species that will be impacted by the freezing weather. The aquarium’s Port Corpus Christi Center for Wildlife Rescue is one of the largest rescue centers for sea turtles in the United States, with the capacity to save thousands of turtles.
The rescue center opened in 2023 and has rehabilitated hundreds of turtles since – and is preparing to help even more this winter.
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The Texas State Aquarium told Fox News Digital that it rehabilitated over 320 turtles last week — and has been preparing for another freeze.
While the turtles living in the aquarium will remain warm thanks to heaters, thousands of wild turtles in the Gulf of Mexico are at risk of cold-stunning.
The Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi has initiated a large-scale response aimed at preserving sea turtle species. (Texas State Aquarium)
In cold-stunning, turtles and other marine reptiles become weak and unconscious after being exposed to cold water for too long.
They are unable to regulate their body temperatures as mammals can.
Texas Parks and Wildlife uses boats to monitor the waters to see where turtles appear stunned. Rescue teams are then dispatched to take them to warmer waters.
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The hundreds of impacted wild turtles will be moved to the emergency response pools after being rescued in the wild, the organizations indicated.
Texas State Aquarium CEO Jesse Gilbert told Fox News Digital that cold-stunning generally happens when the water reaches 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
A green sea turtle eats lettuce on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, at the Texas State Aquarium Wildlife Recovery Center in Corpus Christi. The turtle was rescued around Christmas 2022 after it was stunned by the cold. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
“The turtles appear dead, basically,” Gilbert said.
A Michigan native, Gilbert said that this past Monday night had the coldest weather he had ever seen while in Corpus Christi.
Calling it a “Texas-sized problem,” he said he expected hundreds of cold-stunned turtles to show up at the aquarium.
Children watch fish swim on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, at the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi. The aquarium has been working to try and save cold-stunned turtles during a cold wave that’s been affecting the Lone Star State over the past week. (Jon Shapley/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
“The aquarium has proactively set up large emergency response pools, specifically designed to accommodate a significant number of potential cold-stunned sea turtles,” officials stated in a recent press release.
“These pools are not only spacious but are also equipped with heaters that have been rigorously tested to ensure full operational functionality.”
The aquarium has admitted 8,700 animals and reptiles since 1995, and has released over 4,000.
A significant portion of them – 2,855 – were endangered species.
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A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
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A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
If you live or want to live in Los Angeles, the city controller has released a new dashboard highlighting some of the city’s most notorious problem rental properties, a tool designed to help renters avoid future headaches.
“This project comes at a time when tenants are reporting harassment and illegal evictions violating the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance and Tenant Anti‑Harassment Ordinance, but very few of the complaints end up leading to strong enforcement or real accountability,” L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a media release Thursday.
The new Top 100 Problem Rental Properties dashboard includes a searchable database of all residential addresses with reported housing violation cases within the city of Los Angeles, a ranked list of the 100 addresses with the most violations and an interactive map.
“There has never before been an uncomplicated way for anyone to look up years’ worth of violations by address,” Mejia said in the release.
Data for the dashboard was compiled from multiple sources, including the Los Angeles Housing Department, Los Angeles City Planning and the L.A. County Assessor’s Office, according to the controller’s office.
The release also identified the top three addresses with the highest number of reported housing violations:
1. 636 1/2 North Hill Place, Chinatown
192 housing violation cases
2. 11700 West Wilshire Boulevard, Sawtelle
166 housing violation cases
3. 6650 West Forest Lawn Drive, Hollywood Hills
113 housing violation cases
“Our new dashboard is an easy‑to‑understand public tool that we hope will help renters and organizers document patterns of harm, as well as put pressure on both landlords and the City to act,” Mejia said. “Everyone deserves safe, stable and dignified housing.”
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