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 primary nest found at 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 on the planet.

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 Research.

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

“Every egg issues,” Marshall stated. "Lots 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 environment the place they have one of the best likelihood for survival into adulthood."

The species was nearly lost within the 1980s until intensive conservation efforts had been implemented on nesting beaches and through fisheries management, according to NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional capture of non-target species while fishing — continues to be the most important risk facing Kemp's Ridley sea turtles.

Marshall said 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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