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You are here: Home / Climate Change / How about that weather? / Respite Open Thread: Good News Out of Texas

Respite Open Thread: Good News Out of Texas

by Anne Laurie|  February 23, 20215:08 pm| 54 Comments

This post is in: How about that weather?, Nature & Respite

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20 miles off Texas, finally warm-ish waters. 62° – a perfect spot to return the first 2200 of 5300+ rescued sea turtles. The cold weather stunned the turtles that would have otherwise drowned had volunteers with @SeaTurtleInc not responded. @TODAYshow pic.twitter.com/yhQ8vgNGBZ

— Kerry Sanders (@KerryNBC) February 22, 2021

The ‘sea turtles stunned by cold water’ situation is common enough here in New England that the Boston-based New England Aquarium has a hotline:

… Our response area ranges from Boston north to the New Hampshire-Maine border. If you encounter a sea turtle in distress on the beach within this territory, please call our Sea Turtle Rescue Hotline at 617-973-5247.

Our rescuers rehabilitate endangered sea turtles. In the past decade alone, our rescuers have treated and released hundreds of Kemp’s ridley sea turtles as well as many green and loggerhead sea turtles. These numbers are especially significant considering the Kemp’s ridley is the most endangered sea turtle in the world.

Each fall, staff and volunteer walkers from the Massachusetts Audubon Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary comb dozens of miles of beach trying to find stranded sea turtles. The turtles are transported to the rescuers and veterinarians at the New England Aquarium with extreme hypothermia, severe dehydration, pneumonia, and often shell or bone fractures. While 2014 was a record-smashing year when 733 turtles were treated at the Animal Care Center in Quincy, on average we treat about 300 turtles each year. Their treatment can last between two and eight months, sometimes longer. Most of the sea turtles that arrive alive at the Aquarium recover and are released back into the ocean…

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Reader Interactions

54Comments

  1. 1.

    Poe Larity

    February 23, 2021 at 5:11 pm

    My parents just got their first shot in TX.

  2. 2.

    Old School

    February 23, 2021 at 5:18 pm

    @Poe Larity: Even more good news out of Texas!

  3. 3.

    Benw

    February 23, 2021 at 5:21 pm

    One of my happy t-shirts is a race tee for turtle rescue that has the rescue org’s phone number on the back. If I ever find a turtle in danger I’ll know whom to call!!

  4. 4.

    rikyrah

    February 23, 2021 at 5:21 pm

    @Poe Larity:

     

    Yes!!!

  5. 5.

    rikyrah

    February 23, 2021 at 5:22 pm

    My sister got her second Moderna Shot today.

    5 hours, and no adverse side effects yet.

  6. 6.

    Benw

    February 23, 2021 at 5:24 pm

    @rikyrah: woot!

  7. 7.

    realbtl

    February 23, 2021 at 5:25 pm

    2nd Covid shot for me and my two 72 yo friends here in Montana. Just in time as the new R (of course) Gov repealed the mask ordnance last week and compliance is even worse than before.

  8. 8.

    Nicole

    February 23, 2021 at 5:28 pm

    That video is really heartwarming.  Thank you!

  9. 9.

    Hoppie

    February 23, 2021 at 5:29 pm

    @rikyrah: Good to hear.  My second scheduled Saturday PM, also Moderna; hoping for minimal reaction.  My wife’s second’s (Pfizer) swelling and redness is only now going down after 5 days.

  10. 10.

    trollhattan

    February 23, 2021 at 5:33 pm

    @Benw:

    Woot +1!

    I want this to the least-exclusive club in history.

  11. 11.

    bjacques

    February 23, 2021 at 5:39 pm

    My mom and pop (80 and 87, respectively) in Texas got their second Modena shots during the Tiny Ice Age but are just now coming out of the boil water order.

  12. 12.

    David Fud

    February 23, 2021 at 5:40 pm

    Five members, a full third of the ERCOT board [the Electric Reliability Council of Texas], resigned today.  I guess their families all needed them to be around more.  https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/5-ERCOT-board-members-resign-15973390.php

  13. 13.

    trollhattan

    February 23, 2021 at 5:41 pm

    @bjacques:

    Vaccine, or heat and water? Heckofa choice (not that anybody asked them beforehand).

  14. 14.

    Cameron

    February 23, 2021 at 5:44 pm

    @David Fud: Maybe they got a group rate for a trip to Cancun.

  15. 15.

    Alison Rose

    February 23, 2021 at 5:46 pm

    @Poe Larity: Mine got their first one yesterday here in northern California!

    Seeing those cute turtle buddies sliding into the water makes me so happy. And speaking of animal-induced respite, this video of pandas chewing on carrots is, as the YouTube channel name suggests, oddly satisfying.

  16. 16.

    Miss Bianca

    February 23, 2021 at 5:52 pm

    @David Fud:

    Five members, a full third of the ERCOT board [the Electric Reliability Council of Texas], resigned today.  I guess their families all needed them to be around more.

    If only to huddle together for warmth, right?

  17. 17.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 23, 2021 at 5:56 pm

    @David Fud:

    A friend of mine is an engineer with an unnamed multinational company that has large facilities in and around the vicinity of Houston. They’re shut down and had to claim force majeure on multiple contracts for products, and don’t know when they’ll  be able to restart as so many water pipes and critical junctions are broken (heating, cooling, gray water and potable water all affected). Apparently, when the power went down, their protective heating elements quit.

    His Texas counterparts also tell him that plumbing supplies have been stripped bare in every hardware wholesale and retail store.

  18. 18.

    TS (the original)

    February 23, 2021 at 5:58 pm

    @David Fud:

    Blocked by paper to read all of the article you linked, I perused their front page & found this item –  everything you need to know about GQP Government. No power, no water, but the important issues according to the Lt Governor are:

    Abortion restrictions, transgender issues top Patrick’s priority list
    Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick presides over the Texas Senate, giving him power to set the agenda for what legislation will ultimately pass or even get to the floor for a vote.

  19. 19.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 23, 2021 at 6:01 pm

    @TS (the original):

    May not go the same way it did in the past. There’s going to be a Battle Royale – Big Chemical and Big Insurance vs Big Energy.

    Maybe they can start up 70s era rollerball.

  20. 20.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 23, 2021 at 6:03 pm

    @rikyrah: The tail only starts growing about 10 hours after the shot.

  21. 21.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    February 23, 2021 at 6:04 pm

    @trollhattan: Pretty still exclusive here in SoCal.

  22. 22.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 23, 2021 at 6:11 pm

    @TS (the original):

    Actually, the best article on the page is the one that led me to dig up the Ted Cruz story where he calls his neighbors “assholes” for leaking the texts that outed his lie.

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/ted-cruz-calls-houston-neighbors-aholes-after-wifes-cancun-texts-got-leaked-during-texas-catastrophe?via=twitter_page

  23. 23.

    A Ghost to Most

    February 23, 2021 at 6:11 pm

    You are missing a comma between “Good News” and “Out of Texass”.

  24. 24.

    VeniceRiley

    February 23, 2021 at 6:12 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I wonder how much of that is amazon reseller griefers.

  25. 25.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    February 23, 2021 at 6:15 pm

    Saw Yelp’s Top 100 restaurants earlier today. Seemed like a third of them were sushi restaurants. Kinda made sense. If you don’t mind eating raw fish and getting intestinal worms, you’re probably not real picky.

  26. 26.

    burnspbesq

    February 23, 2021 at 6:24 pm

    @David Fud:

    Five members, a full third of the ERCOT board [the Electric Reliability Council of Texas], resigned today

    Abbott’s bullshit rationale for forcing these folks out is that all the board members should be Texas residents. Which is bullshit because Texas residence correlates weakly (if not negatively) with competence.

  27. 27.

    TS (the original)

    February 23, 2021 at 6:25 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Shame Big Government didn’t get involved in doing its job, rather than let the private entities nuke it out. Same with Dominion having to call those who lied about the elections to account.

    Rudy Giuliani tried dodging getting served with $1B Dominion Voting Systems suit:

  28. 28.

    TS (the original)

    February 23, 2021 at 6:27 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Yep – it’s the neighbors who got it wrong – not the Senator. So children, wife, neighbors – has he blamed the dog yet?

  29. 29.

    Gbbalto

    February 23, 2021 at 6:27 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: My intestinal worms are fine! Eat what I eat, go where I  go, very quiet.

  30. 30.

    burnspbesq

    February 23, 2021 at 6:27 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Maybe they can start up 70s era rollerball.

    I suspect you recall that James Caan’s character in the original film played for Houston.

  31. 31.

    taumaturgo

    February 23, 2021 at 6:30 pm

    Horrible optics out of Texas for the administration. After savaging Trump on the kidnapping and caging of undocumented immigrants Biden is opening not one but two children detention centers.WTF.

  32. 32.

    Baud

    February 23, 2021 at 6:31 pm

    @taumaturgo:

    Your proposal is that the kids should be set loose in the desert with a bottle of water and a compass?

  33. 33.

    burnspbesq

    February 23, 2021 at 6:32 pm

    @TS (the original):

    Sidney Powell similarly tried to dodge service. They finally caught up with the supposed Dallas resident in Biltmore Forest, NC (outside Asheville).

  34. 34.

    Ken

    February 23, 2021 at 6:39 pm

    @burnspbesq: Anyone want to speculate on the consequences if Dominion’s lawsuits are successful?  I’m pretty sure they won’t get 1.3 billion out of Giuliani or Powell – kidneys and corneas don’t sell for that much on the black market.

  35. 35.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 23, 2021 at 6:39 pm

    @burnspbesq: Great movie. Wondered what the backstory was on the corporate honchos like Houseman. Storyboards had to be interesting.

  36. 36.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 23, 2021 at 6:39 pm

    @Ken:

    Although I’m OK with the attempt.

  37. 37.

    Brachiator

    February 23, 2021 at 6:46 pm

    @TS (the original):

    Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick presides over the Texas Senate, giving him power to set the agenda for what legislation will ultimately pass or even get to the floor for a vote.

    Is this why the Texas Lt Gov has more power than the governor? Ability to set the legislative agenda?

  38. 38.

    taumaturgo

    February 23, 2021 at 6:47 pm

    @Baud: I see pass your strawman. No separation and unification with parents. What’s yours? Continue with the inhumane treatment of children just like Trump? Common, aren’t we better than this?

  39. 39.

    mrmoshpotato

    February 23, 2021 at 6:47 pm

    @TS (the original): Please tell me the process server popped out of Ghouliani’s coffin just before sunrise.

  40. 40.

    Baud

    February 23, 2021 at 6:50 pm

    @taumaturgo:

    I’m sorry, is Biden separating children? Is he refusing to reunify them when the parents are found? Show your work, if that’s your accusation.  All you said is that they are opening new facilities.  That tells me nothing.

  41. 41.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    February 23, 2021 at 6:50 pm

    @TS (the original): Years ago, a friend of mine had a rich, clueless, divorced mother who bought a table at a fundraising banquet for a Republican candidate for the local district attorney.  She didn’t actually support him, she told us, she just got talked into it (probably from a guy who picked her up, we’re guessing.)  Her friends refused to go, so the clueless divorcee turned to her daughter to fill up the table, and thus I and my friends wound up at a fundraising dinner just for the free food!

    Anyhow we heard the candidate’s speech outlining key elements of his proposed Republican agenda: curbing the “homosexual lifestyle,” restrictions on abortion, a sex offenders registry (which now is law) etc. Listening to the whole thing, the thread combining all his different positions was that the only purpose of government, apparently, was policing other people’s sex lives.  I remember thinking, what does this guy think people should or shouldn’t do during the day?

  42. 42.

    burnspbesq

    February 23, 2021 at 6:51 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollerball_(1975_film)

  43. 43.

    MisterForkbeard

    February 23, 2021 at 6:54 pm

    @Baud: Well, no. It tells you a lot about Taumaturgo.

  44. 44.

    burnspbesq

    February 23, 2021 at 6:55 pm

    @Ken:

    The defendants will be wiped out, and won’t be able to accumulate any significant assets for a good long time (details depend on state law, and I suspect there are some interesting choice-of-law issues that will get litigated eventually).

  45. 45.

    johnnybuck

    February 23, 2021 at 6:55 pm

    @Baud: Typical knee jerk reaction of bad faith by a Democratic leader. It’s his thing.

  46. 46.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    February 23, 2021 at 6:56 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Bankruptcy code would be of marginal use, too.

  47. 47.

    burnspbesq

    February 23, 2021 at 7:11 pm

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:

    Agreed. Defamation is an intentional tort, and damages liability for intentional torts isn’t dischargeable. None of the current defendants will keep their houses, because none of NY, TX, or MN has an unlimited homestead exemption (TX is particularly stingy for non-agricultural property).

  48. 48.

    Brachiator

    February 23, 2021 at 7:13 pm

    @Chacal Charles Calthrop:

    Listening to the whole thing, the thread combining all his different positions was that the only purpose of government, apparently, was policing other people’s sex lives.

    Apparently, if you are a Republican, the free market takes care of everything else.

  49. 49.

    Raoul Paste

    February 23, 2021 at 7:22 pm

    • @taumaturgo: Actually Jen Psaki has explained all of this at a recent press conference
    • You can read about it at Raw Story for all the humanitarian details including Covid considerations

     

    @taumaturgo:

  50. 50.

    Josie

    February 23, 2021 at 7:27 pm

    @taumaturgo: ​
     
    The administration is not separating parents and children. That facility is for minors who cross the border without parents. They are there only until a responsible adult shows up to take them. It is a totally different situation. Do your homework.

  51. 51.

    tokyokie

    February 23, 2021 at 7:34 pm

    @Benw:

     

    One of my happy t-shirts is a race tee for turtle rescue that has the rescue org’s phone number on the back. If I ever find a turtle in danger I’ll know whom to call!!

    But only if you wear the same shirt every day.

     

    Here in North Texas, the temperature was about 80 degrees warmer today than it was a week ago. And my appointment for my second shot, which should have been a week ago Monday but was postponed because of the weather, has been rescheduled for whenever I can drop by Thursday.

  52. 52.

    BruceFromOhio

    February 23, 2021 at 7:36 pm

    @Josie:

    Do your homework.

    Why, when I can play spin with the words and uniformly piss people off for no apparent reason?

    I credit Arkon DougJ.

  53. 53.

    BruceFromOhio

    February 23, 2021 at 7:39 pm

    @Chacal Charles Calthrop: that candidate was preaching to the Christianistas, and only the Christianistas. The rest of y’all were going to hell anyway, your vote doesn’t count.

  54. 54.

    Johnnybuck

    February 23, 2021 at 8:13 pm

    @BruceFromOhio: One trick ponies don’t really piss me off., because I can always set my watch to them.

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