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 discovered on the beachside of Galveston Island State Park final 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 first nest discovered 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 Research.

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

“Every egg issues,” 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 setting the place they have one of the best chance for survival into adulthood."

The species was nearly lost in the Eighties until intensive conservation efforts were carried out on nesting seashores and thru fisheries management, in response to NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional seize of non-target species while fishing — continues to be the most important threat dealing with Kemp's Ridley sea turtles.

Marshall said the everyday 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 no less than 60 ft away and to name the Sea Turtle hotline at 1-866-TURTLE-5.

Fill out the form below to subscribe our new each day editorial publication from the HPM Newsroom.