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 final week — the primary 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 Middle for Sea Turtle Research.

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

“Each egg issues,” Marshall stated. "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 environment the place they have the most effective probability for survival into adulthood."

The species was almost misplaced within the Eighties till intensive conservation efforts had been implemented on nesting seashores and through fisheries administration, in line with NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional capture of non-target species while fishing — continues to be the most important menace dealing with Kemp's Ridley sea turtles.

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

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