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 found on the beachside of Galveston Island State Park last week — the primary nest discovered on the park in over a decade.

The nest contained 107 eggs laid by a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle, which is likely one of the most endangered sea turtle species on the earth.

This was the first nest found 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 Analysis.

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

“Every egg issues,” Marshall stated. "A whole lot 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 surroundings where they've one of the best probability for survival into maturity."

The species was virtually misplaced within the 1980s until intensive conservation efforts had been carried out on nesting beaches and thru fisheries management, in accordance with NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional capture of non-target species while fishing — continues to be the largest risk facing Kemp's Ridley sea turtles.

Marshall mentioned the typical nesting season for the Kemp's Ridley sea turtle runs between April 1 and July 15. He urged anybody who finds a nest to stay no less than 60 ft away and to call the Sea Turtle hotline at 1-866-TURTLE-5.

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