Sea Turtle Blog

So far this year, 109 Kemp's ridley nests have been found.

Yesterday 3 Kemp's ridley nests were located on the Texas coast, all on
Matagorda Island.  These nests were 1 to perhaps 2 days old when found.

So far this year, 109 Kemp's ridley nests have been confirmed on the
Texas coast including (north to south in state):

Bolivar Peninsula 2
Galveston Island 2
Brazoria County, just north of Surfside 1
Surfside Beach 1
Bryan Beach 0
Matagorda Peninsula 0
Matagorda Island 7
San Jose Island 1
Mustang Island 4
North Padre Island 60, including 51 at Padre Island National Seashore
South Padre Island 25
Boca Chica Beach 6

The Kemp's Ridley Nest Count has broken 100!

So far this year, 106 Kemp's Ridley nests have been confirmed on the

Texas coast including (north to south in state):

Bolivar Peninsula 2
Galveston Island 2
Brazoria County, just north of Surfside 1
Surfside Beach 1
Bryan Beach 0
Matagorda Peninsula 0
Matagorda Island 4
San Jose Island 1
Mustang Island 4
North Padre Island 60, including 51 at Padre Island National Seashore
South Padre Island 25
Boca Chica Beach 6

Nest Count is 103

In addition to the 7 nests found on the Texas coast yesterday,
a set of Kemp's ridley tracks was located on Matagorda Island, but a nest could not be located initially.  After further investigation today, a nest was located at that site.

Today another Kemp's ridley nest was located on the Texas coast at
Matagorda Island.

So far this year, 103 Kemp's ridley nests have been confirmed on the

Texas coast including (north to south in state):

Bolivar Peninsula 2
Galveston Island 2
Brazoria County, just north of Surfside 1
Surfside Beach 1
Bryan Beach 0
Matagorda Peninsula 0
Matagorda Island 4
San Jose Island 1
Mustang Island 4
North Padre Island 57, including 48 at Padre Island National Seashore South Padre Island 25
Boca Chica Beach 6

Nest Count is 81.

Yesterday 3 Kemp's ridley nest were found on the Texas coast including 3
at Padre Island National Seashore.

So far this year, 81 Kemp's ridley nests have been confirmed on the

Texas coast including (north to south in state):

Bolivar Peninsula 2
Galveston Island 1
Surfside Beach 1
Bryan Beach 0
Matagorda Peninsula 0

Matagorda Island 1
San Jose Island 1
Mustang Island 4
North Padre Island 46, including 40 at Padre Island National Seashore
South Padre Island 19
Boca Chica Beach 6

LOTS OF NESTS FOUND!

Today 19 Kemp's ridley nest were found on the Texas coast including 9 at
Padre Island National Seashore, 5 on South Padre Island, 3 on Boca Chica
Beach, 1 on Mustang Island, and 1 on San Jose Island.

This was the most Kemp's ridley nests documented on the Texas coast in a
single day since record-keeping began in 1980.

So far this year, 78 Kemp's ridley nests have been confirmed on the
Texas coast including (north to south in state):
Bolivar Peninsula 2
Galveston Island 1
Surfside Beach 1
Bryan Beach 0
Matagorda Peninsula 0
Matagorda Island 1
San Jose Island 1
Mustang Island 4
North Padre Island 43, including 37 at Padre Island National Seashore
South Padre Island 19
Boca Chica Beach 6

Nest Count is 59.

Yesterday 1 Kemp's ridley nest was found on the Texas coast. 
It was located on Bolivar Peninsula.

Nest Count is 58.

Yesterday 2 Kemp's ridley nests were found on the Texas coast including
1 at Padre Island National Seashore and 1 on Surfside Beach.

So far this year, 58 Kemp's ridley nests have been confirmed on the

Texas coast including (north to south in state):
Bolivar Peninsula 1
Galveston Island 1
Surfside Beach 1
Bryan Beach 0
Matagorda Peninsula 0

Matagorda Island 1
Mustang Island 3
North Padre Island 34, including 28 at Padre Island National Seashore
South Padre Island 14
Boca Chica Beach 3

Nest Count is 56

Yesterday 3 Kemp's Ridley nests were found on the Texas coast including
2 at Padre Island National Seashore and 1 on Mustang Island.

So far this year, 56 Kemp's ridley nests have been confirmed on the

Texas coast including (north to south in state):

Bolivar Peninsula 1
Galveston Island 1
Surfside Beach 0
Bryan Beach 0
Matagorda Peninsula 0

Matagorda Island 1
Mustang Island 3
North Padre Island 33, including 27 at Padre Island National Seashore
South Padre Island 14
Boca Chica Beach 3

Nest Count is 53

Yesterday, May 7, 2008,
5 Kemp's ridley nests were found on the Texas coast including
2 at Padre Island National Seashore (one of which was from a set of
tracks that was located the day before),
1 on North Padre Island north of Padre Island National Seashore,
1 on South Padre Island,
1 on Matagorda Island.

So far this year, 53 Kemp's Ridley nests have been confirmed on the Texas coast including (north to south in state):

Bolivar Peninsula 1
Galveston Island 1
Surfside Beach 0
Bryan Beach 0

Matagorda Peninsula 0
Matagorda Island 1
Mustang Island 2
North Padre Island 31, including 25 at Padre Island National Seashore South Padre Island 14
Boca Chica Beach 3

From the Beamont Enterprise

http://www.southeasttexaslive.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19657859&BRD=2287&PAG=461&dept_id=512588&rfi=6Kemp's ridley turtles begin nesting season on Gulf Coast
By CHRISTINE RAPPLEYE, The Enterprise
05/03/2008

Updated 05/02/2008 11:42:06 PM CDT

Susan Lewis, a volunteer, watches biologists Shanna Kethan, left, and Ben Higgins, with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Galveston photograph a Kemp's ridley sea turtle Thursday as it nests. Higgins said it was the first nesting on the Galveston Island this season. (Jennifer Reynolds/The Associated Press)


Beachgoers may spy more than shells and shorebirds while spending time on Southeast Texas sand and surf.
Sea turtles - Kemp's ridley to be exact - have made their initial appearance on Bolivar and Galveston beaches this year, thanks to sharp-eyed passersby.
On Thursday, a Kemp's ridley picked the beach near 39th Street on Galveston Island to lay 109 golf ball-sized eggs, said Shanna Kethan, a fishery biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service in Galveston.
MORE ON THE NET
National Park Service information on Kemp's ridley sea turtles

Kevin Walsh, the Galveston County treasurer, spotted the turtle coming out of the waves at about 11:45 a.m. and called it in, she said.
On April 25, retired science teacher Eddie Trapp recognized the crescent moon-shaped tracks on Crystal Beach at about 10 a.m.
Ninety-six eggs were recovered, Kethan added.
Coastwide, 40 nests have been spotted this season, which starts around April 1, according to information on the Padre Island National Seashore Web site.
The eggs are taken to seashore for incubation, Kethan said.
Kemp's ridley turtles are the only sea turtles who nest during the day and prefer the mid-morning hours, Kethan said.
Last year, a record 128 nests were discovered in Texas in the nesting season, 15 on the upper Gulf Coast, but those numbers are tiny when compared to the 6,000 nesting females counted on the main nesting beach in Rancho Nuevo, Mexico, according to The Enterprise archives.
There is a combination of grant-funded and volunteer patrols that monitor the beach for the turtles and the turtle tracks, according to The Enterprise archives.
Also found along the Galveston County beaches Thursday were three dead turtles, according to the Sea Turtle Restoration Project.
"It's stranding season," Kethan said. "They are going to wash in."
Mother turtles will nest from April to mid-July and then the hatchlings will scurry to the surf from mid-July through the fall.

Updated 05/02/2008 11:42:06 PM CDT
©The Beaumont Enterprise 2008