Endangered sea turtle nest discovered 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 found at 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 planet.

This was the first nest discovered 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 Center for Sea Turtle Research.

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

“Each egg matters,” Marshall stated. "A variety of nesting habitat for the Kemp's Ridley has been misplaced to storms, excessive tide and predation, which is why you will need to transport these nests to an surroundings the place they have the perfect probability for survival into adulthood."

The species was nearly misplaced within the Nineteen Eighties until intensive conservation efforts have been applied on nesting seashores and thru fisheries management, in line with NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional seize of non-target species while fishing — continues to be the most important threat facing 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 at the very least 60 ft away and to name the Sea Turtle hotline at 1-866-TURTLE-5.

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