Endangered sea turtle nest found at Galveston Island State Park for the first time in a decade – Houston Public Media

A nest of endangered sea turtle eggs was found on the beachside of Galveston Island State Park last week — the primary nest found on the park in over a decade.

The nest contained 107 eggs laid by a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, which is without doubt one of the most endangered sea turtle species in the world.

This was the first nest discovered at Galveston Island State Park since 2012, in keeping with Christopher Marshall, a professor of Marine Biology at Texas A&M and director for the Gulf Middle for Sea Turtle Analysis.

Once the nest was discovered, it was delivered to an incubation facility at Padre Island Nationwide Seashore, Marshall stated.

“Every egg matters,” Marshall said. "A lot of nesting habitat for the Kemp's Ridley has been misplaced to storms, high tide and predation, which is why it is important to transport these nests to an atmosphere where they have the most effective probability for survival into maturity."

The species was almost misplaced in the Eighties till intensive conservation efforts were carried out on nesting beaches and through fisheries administration, in response to NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional seize of non-target species while fishing — continues to be the biggest risk dealing with Kemp's Ridley sea turtles.

Marshall mentioned the everyday nesting season for the Kemp's Ridley sea turtle runs between April 1 and July 15. He urged anybody who finds a nest to remain no less than 60 toes away and to call the Sea Turtle hotline at 1-866-TURTLE-5.

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