Friends of Padre

It was a beautiful day for a parade on the beach. The parade is put on every year by the Padre Island Business Association and benefited the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. A good time was had by all. The Friends of Padre Crew was there to pass out stickers and word of the 20th Annual Billy Sandifer Biog Shell Cleanup coming up on February 28th.

On Friday, Feb. 6, Jeff Wolda and I made a Beach Scouting trip to the Port Mansfield jetties. Driving was smooth, 2 wheel drive and excellent both ways. Water was murky to the 45 mi. and “trout green” south of there. We have had some high tides and the trash is windrowed on the upper portion of the beach. Few vehicles and no fish were observed. Scattered numbers of Gulls and Terns were observed. 172 Willets, 120 Cormorants, 3 Curlew, 1 Wimbrel, 1 Peregrine, 1 Osprey, 2 White-tailed Hawks, 1 Little Blue Heron, 175 Sanderling, 60 Ruddy Turnstones & 13 Brown Pelicans were observed. No other wildlife was observed. 8 knot winds and low temperatures in the 50’s and high 70 degrees were encountered. Billy Sandifer Pics of beach conditions and vandalized picnic table at the Mansfield jetty

Join the Friends of Padre and the Padre Island National Seashore from 9 until Noon this Saturday! Click Here for the Coastal Bend Cleanup Locations for Saturday

Friends of Padre recently adopted the stretch of highway between Commodores and White Cap on Padre Island  

(Corpus Christi, Texas)- Due to a rapid drop in temperatures over the last few weeks many green sea turtles were rescued and rehabilitated by several agencies with much help from volunteers. It is now time to return these sea turtles into the Gulf of Mexico. Members of the public are invited to come watch the release of cold stunned green turtles at 2:00 pm on Wednesday January 28. The release will be held in front of the Visitor Center at Padre Island National Seashore (on North Padre Island), and will be open to the public free-of-charge. Currently, favorable weather conditions are predicted. If the forecast changes and we experience cold temperatures later this week, we may need to postpone the release. We encourage you to periodically check our Facebook pages; https://www.facebook.com/nps.pais.seaturtles or https://www.facebook.com/nps.pais. You can also find out more by calling our recorded Hatchling Hotline (361-949-7163) for the latest information on the release. To attend, follow park road 22 out to Padre Island National Seashore, located on North Padre Island. Drive approximately two miles past the entrance station to the Malaquite Visitor Center and park there. Walk through the visitor center complex to the boardwalk and proceed down to the beach, this is where the release will be conducted. 2015

Via Captain Billy Sandifer We traveled to the Port Mansfield jetty yesterday. Sand is hard packed and 2 wheel drive the entire length and the beach was 2 wheel drive. Water was Pompano green with 2 rows of surf at one foot. 500 Cormorants and 72 Horned Lark made up the majority of the birds. No sign of fish activity was observed. Very few people were observed.

Via Dr. Donna Shaver (17 January 2015), 14 cold stunned green turtles were found on the Texas coast. Only three of the 14 were found alive and most of the dead turtles were found in a remote area that we had not been able to search until yesterday. So far during the 2014-2015 cold stunning season (which began on 13 November 2014), the following cold stunned sea turtles have been found in Texas: Area Total Galveston Area/ Inshore 68 Lavaca/San Antonio Bay 35 Port O’Connor 1 Copano Bay 7 San Jose Island 2 Mustang Island/Aransas Pass 45 Upper Laguna Madre/Corpus Christi Bay 407 Padre Island National Seashore Gulf Beach 3 Lower Laguna Madre 110 TOTAL 678 Condition Total Alive 503 Dead 175 TOTAL 678 All were green turtles except for two loggerheads, one Kemp’s ridley, and one hawksbill turtle.

Via Dr. Donna Shaver Today (14 January 2015), 17 cold stunned green turtles were found on the Texas coast. Yesterday, 31 cold stunned sea turtles were located in Texas. Most continue to be found in the Texas Coastal Bend. So far during the 2014-2015 cold stunning season (from 13 November 2014 through 14 January 2015), 461 cold stunned sea turtles have been found in Texas, including the following: All were green turtles except for two loggerheads, one Kemp’s ridley, and one hawksbill turtle. Area Total Galveston Area/ Inshore 19 Lavaca/San Antonio Bay 35 Copano Bay 7 San Jose Island 2 Mustang Island/Aransas Pass 43 Upper Laguna Madre/Corpus Christi Bay 248 Padre Island National Seashore Gulf Beach 3 Lower Laguna Madre 104 Boca Chica Beach 0 TOTAL 461 Condition Total Alive 380 Dead 81 TOTAL 461