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 found on the beachside of Galveston Island State Park final week — the first nest discovered on 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 on the earth.

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 Middle for Sea Turtle Analysis.

As soon as the nest was found, it was dropped at an incubation facility at Padre Island Nationwide Seashore, Marshall stated.

“Every egg issues,” Marshall said. "Quite a lot of nesting habitat for the Kemp's Ridley has been misplaced to storms, excessive tide and predation, which is why it is important to transport these nests to an environment the place they have the best likelihood for survival into adulthood."

The species was nearly lost in the Eighties till intensive conservation efforts were applied on nesting beaches and through fisheries management, in keeping with NOAA Fisheries. Bycatch — the intentional seize of non-target species while fishing — continues to be the largest menace facing 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 anybody who finds a nest to remain at the very least 60 ft away and to name the Sea Turtle hotline at 1-866-TURTLE-5.

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