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 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 one of the most endangered sea turtle species on the planet.

This was the primary nest discovered at Galveston Island State Park since 2012, based on Christopher Marshall, a professor of Marine Biology at Texas A&M and director for the Gulf Middle for Sea Turtle Research.

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

“Every egg issues,” Marshall stated. "Lots of nesting habitat for the Kemp's Ridley has been lost to storms, high tide and predation, which is why you will need to transport these nests to an surroundings where they have the most effective probability for survival into maturity."

The species was virtually lost in the 1980s till intensive conservation efforts have been applied on nesting seashores and thru fisheries management, in response to NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional capture of non-target species while 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 a minimum of 60 toes away and to call the Sea Turtle hotline at 1-866-TURTLE-5.

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