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

A nest of endangered sea turtle eggs was discovered on the beachside of Galveston Island State Park final 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 among the most endangered sea turtle species on the planet.

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

As soon as the nest was discovered, it was delivered to an incubation facility at Padre Island National Seashore, Marshall mentioned.

“Every egg issues,” Marshall stated. "Plenty 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 environment where they've the most effective probability for survival into adulthood."

The species was virtually misplaced within the Nineteen Eighties till intensive conservation efforts had been carried out on nesting seashores and through fisheries administration, in keeping with NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional seize of non-target species while fishing — continues to be the largest risk facing Kemp's Ridley sea turtles.

Marshall said 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 remain not less than 60 toes away and to call the Sea Turtle hotline at 1-866-TURTLE-5.

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