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 final week — the first nest discovered on 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 earth.

This was the first nest found at Galveston Island State Park since 2012, in response to 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 National Seashore, Marshall said.

“Every egg issues,” Marshall said. "Plenty of nesting habitat for the Kemp's Ridley has been misplaced to storms, high tide and predation, which is why you will need to transport these nests to an setting where they have one of the best likelihood for survival into adulthood."

The species was virtually misplaced in the 1980s until intensive conservation efforts have been carried out on nesting seashores and through fisheries management, in response to NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional capture of non-target species whereas fishing — continues to be the largest threat facing Kemp's Ridley sea turtles.

Marshall stated 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 toes away and to call the Sea Turtle hotline at 1-866-TURTLE-5.

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