Alert: Mysterious Colored Blocks Spotted on Galveston Beach

If you are planning a trip to the Texas coast this weekend be on the lookout for some mysterious orange-shaped blocks along the shoreline.

What? Yeah, that's the same thing I thought. KVUE reports that the unusual objects are small orange-painted rectangular blocks attached to a larger rectangular block that is being spotted in the sand or shoreline near the ocean in Galveston.

The blocks are named "wooden effigies" and anyone who finds one of these blocks is asked to call a phone number attached to them. According to the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research, the orange blocks mimic sea turtles and help researchers better understand how ocean currents and weather patterns play a part in sea turtle strandings.

At least 80 of the peculiar-looking effigies were released on the Louisiana coastline and more than half will be drifting towards the Texas coast this weekend. If you find one please call the number on the attached block so that researchers can collect the GPS satellite tracking data associated with the effigy.

Sea turtles were released back into the ocean two months ago after being rescued from the cold this past winter.