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 found 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 without doubt one of the most endangered sea turtle species in the world.

This was the primary 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 Analysis.

As soon as the nest was discovered, it was dropped at an incubation facility at Padre Island Nationwide Seashore, Marshall stated.

“Every egg matters,” Marshall mentioned. "Plenty 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 environment where they have one of the best likelihood for survival into maturity."

The species was almost lost in the Nineteen Eighties until intensive conservation efforts had been applied on nesting seashores and through fisheries management, in accordance with NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional capture of non-target species while 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.

Fill out the form under to subscribe our new daily editorial newsletter from the HPM Newsroom.