Packery Flats part of Sept. 18 statewide beach cleanup on the Gulf

The Coastal Bend Bays Foundation's Coastal Issues Forum is 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 13. The free, interactive virtual meeting will feature the presentation “A Frozen Turtle Tale" by Jace Tunnell, director of the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute. Tunnell will discuss efforts this past February to save more than 1,300 cold-stunned sea turtles from freezing to death.
During the February freeze, more than 13,000 sea turtles were stranded in Texas when record-breaking low temperatures reached the Gulf Coast. Water temperatures plunged to 34 degrees, immobilizing the turtles, which were rescued by volunteers, government agencies, and conservation organizations. The Amos Rehabilitation Keep at the University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas took in more than 1,300 green sea turtles in a 10-day period. 
The presentation will describe the events that took place to rescue the turtles, what happens once the turtles come into the rehab facility, and how they are returned to the ocean. A live question-and-answer function will be enabled online during the event.
The foundation will also sponsor an Adopt-A-Beach event from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 18, at Packery Flats, the area north and west of where the Texas 361 bridge crosses Packery Channel. The parking lot is off of 361 on Mustang Island past Zahn Road.
Other Adopt-A-Beach locations in Nueces County are Aransas Pass/Redfish Bay, Port Aransas, Mustang Island State Park, North Beach, Cole Park, and North Padre Island.
Online registration is required due to COVID-19, and supplies are limited to 200 volunteers, one ticket per person, with no group signups available this year. Registration will remain open until the end of the cleanup on Sept. 18. Individuals may begin to check in at 8:30 a.m. 
Volunteers are asked to wear closed-toe shoes and bring work or garden gloves and sufficient drinking water. Guidelines include not handling dead or injured animals or hazardous materials, avoiding heavy lifting, and taking special precautions with small children. Look online to see any additional safety precautions before going to the cleanup.
Since the cleanups began, 79,012 volunteers have removed more than 1,200 tons of trash from the Corpus Christi region. Volunteers can see what unusual items wash up, blow onto, and are left on Texas beaches.