Turtles Go On Summer Vacation While Ponds Get Scrubbed Clean

On June 9, 2014, UT biologists and students helped move about 140 turtles from UT Austin's beloved turtle pond to a temporary home for a long overdue cleaning of the lower pond.

More photos and information can be found here: http://utaustin.tumblr.com/post/88301007405/uts-turtles-take-a-summer-vacation-around-140

The turtles' summer vacation attracted a lot of attention.

Local TV station KXAN covered it here: http://kxan.com/2014/06/09/ut-pond-scrub-down-sends-turtles-to-temporary-home/

And local station KVUE aired this piece: http://www.kvue.com/media/cinematic/video/10259841/ut-to-clean-famous-turtle-pond/

And the Austin American-Statesman ran this story about the pond cleaning: http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/local/ut-turtle-pond-is-drained-cleaned/ngHcp/

Just one week later, the turtles were back: http://utaustin.tumblr.com/post/88989355029/uts-turtles-return-to-turtle-pond-after-quick

Local TV station KXAN ran a story on the turtles' return here: http://kxan.com/2014/06/16/turtles-return-home-to-ut-turtle-pond/

All photos below are by Marsha Miller or Marc Airhart.