Sea Turtle Conservation Near Padre Island National Seashore

Summary

Using grant money from the General Land Office the National Park Service (NPS) and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department helped re-establish a nesting colony of Kemp’s ridley sea turtles on Padre Island National Seashore through on-the-ground and educational efforts. Over the course of the project, PAIS patrolled 468,100 miles of beach and relocated 663 Kemp’s ridley nests, 38 Green nests, and 23 Loggerhead nests to the Sea Turtle Recovery incubation facilities where the eggs were monitored. After hatching, the sea turtle hatchlings were transported to the beach and released. NPS staff released 51,059 Kemp’s ridley, 1,557 Green, and 1,351 Loggerhead hatchlings into the Gulf of Mexico. NPS staff also coordinated and trained volunteer workers, staff, and partners who worked with nesting and stranded Kemp’s ridleys in Texas. From 2010 - 2013, PAIS trained 777 volunteers and conducted 64 workshops with a total of 2,188 people in attendance.