Endangered sea turtle nest found 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 discovered at 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 in the world.

This was the first 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 Middle for Sea Turtle Research.

Once the nest was discovered, it was dropped at an incubation facility at Padre Island Nationwide Seashore, Marshall said.

“Every egg matters,” Marshall stated. "A variety 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 atmosphere the place they have the very best probability for survival into maturity."

The species was almost lost within the Eighties till intensive conservation efforts had been carried out on nesting beaches and through fisheries administration, based on NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional capture of non-target species while fishing — continues to be the largest menace dealing with 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 at the very least 60 feet away and to call the Sea Turtle hotline at 1-866-TURTLE-5.

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