The Fish and Wildlife Service asked citizens to report sea turtles on beaches and shorelines.

The loggerhead sea turtle has been an endangered species ever since 1978, according to its FWS profile. These turtles have slightly heart-shaped top shells that are reddish brown on adults, with a pale yellow bottom shell. The average length of the top shell of an adult loggerhead turtle is around 36 inches. They weigh about 250 pounds.

“This is more than twice the average annual number of loggerhead strandings recorded from 2012 to 2021, which was 109, and annual numbers have increased during this decade," Donna J. Shaver, Texas coordinator of the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network, said in a Sept. 2 news release. "This dramatic increase in loggerhead strandings this year is alarming and has STSSN participants on high alert in the Coastal Bend to be ready for the increased influx of incapacitated loggerheads needing immediate rescue and care.”

The surge in strandings may be related to decreases in prey availability in their habitat, freshwater inflows and water quality and exposure to hypoxic areas and contaminated prey, according to the release. As of now, bio-toxins and infectious diseases are not the reason for loggerhead strandings.

“In the Coastal Bend, around one third of the stranded loggerheads have been found alive and are receiving care at permitted rehabilitation facilities, including the Amos Rehabilitation Keep, Texas State Aquarium and Texas Sealife Center,” Mary Kay Skoruppa, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sea turtle coordinator for Texas, said in the release. “The affected loggerheads have been found underweight and emaciated. They are receiving diligent care in rehabilitation, and we hope that most will recover and ultimately be released back into the Gulf of Mexico.”