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

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

The nest contained 107 eggs laid by a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, which is likely one of the most endangered sea turtle species on the planet.

This was the primary 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 Center for Sea Turtle Research.

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

“Each egg issues,” Marshall mentioned. "Lots of nesting habitat for the Kemp's Ridley has been misplaced to storms, excessive tide and predation, which is why you will need to transport these nests to an surroundings the place they've the best probability for survival into maturity."

The species was almost misplaced within the Nineteen Eighties till intensive conservation efforts had been applied on nesting seashores and through fisheries administration, based on NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional seize of non-target species whereas fishing — continues to be the biggest threat 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 at the least 60 ft away and to name the Sea Turtle hotline at 1-866-TURTLE-5.

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