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

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

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

This was the primary nest found 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 Heart for Sea Turtle Analysis.

As soon as the nest was found, it was delivered to an incubation facility at Padre Island Nationwide Seashore, Marshall stated.

“Every egg matters,” Marshall stated. "Plenty 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 environment where they've the perfect probability for survival into maturity."

The species was virtually misplaced within the Nineteen Eighties until intensive conservation efforts had been carried out on nesting seashores and thru fisheries management, in accordance with NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional capture of non-target species while fishing — continues to be the most important risk going through Kemp's Ridley sea turtles.

Marshall stated the typical 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 at the least 60 toes away and to name the Sea Turtle hotline at 1-866-TURTLE-5.

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