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 discovered at the park in over a decade.

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

This was the first nest found at Galveston Island State Park since 2012, according to Christopher Marshall, a professor of Marine Biology at Texas A&M and director for the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Analysis.

Once the nest was found, it was dropped at an incubation facility at Padre Island Nationwide Seashore, Marshall mentioned.

“Every egg issues,” Marshall said. "Quite a lot of nesting habitat for the Kemp's Ridley has been lost to storms, excessive tide and predation, which is why you will need to transport these nests to an atmosphere where they have the best likelihood for survival into maturity."

The species was nearly misplaced within the Eighties till intensive conservation efforts had been applied on nesting seashores and thru fisheries management, in keeping with NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional capture of non-target species whereas fishing — continues to be the biggest threat facing Kemp's Ridley sea turtles.

Marshall mentioned the standard nesting season for the Kemp's Ridley sea turtle runs between April 1 and July 15. He urged anyone who finds a nest to stay not less than 60 ft away and to name the Sea Turtle hotline at 1-866-TURTLE-5.

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