Endangered sea turtle nest found 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 final week — the first nest discovered at 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 in the world.

This was the first 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 Center for Sea Turtle Analysis.

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

“Each egg issues,” Marshall mentioned. "Plenty 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 one of the best probability for survival into maturity."

The species was nearly misplaced in the 1980s until intensive conservation efforts were carried out on nesting seashores and thru fisheries management, in accordance with NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional capture of non-target species whereas fishing — continues to be the largest threat dealing with Kemp's Ridley sea turtles.

Marshall stated 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 a minimum of 60 toes away and to call the Sea Turtle hotline at 1-866-TURTLE-5.

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