End of the Year 2000 Turtle Nesting and Hatchling Release Summary

HATCHLING RELEASES COMPLETED FOR 2000

Overall, 18 sea turtle nests were located on the Texas coast this year. This included 12 Kemp's ridley, one green, and five loggerhead sea turtle nests. These 12 Kemp's ridley nests were the only confirmed Kemp's ridley nests found in the U.S. this year. Eggs from 17 of the 18 Texas nests were brought to the Padre Island National Seashore incubation facility for protected care. We released 942 Kemp's ridley, 348 loggerhead, and 169 green turtle hatchlings on the beach at Padre Island National Seashore this year. Additionally, 58 Kemp's ridley hatchlings were released on Boca Chica Beach. The public was invited to attend 13 of the national seashore hatchling releases and cumulatively over 1,000 people attended. The largest crowd at any release this year was 199 visitors on June 8.

I thank all of the partners that cooperated with the work this year. Among those that provided funds, grants, or donations to support the efforts were the U.S. Geological Survey and National Park Service as well as the Department of the Interior U.S.-Mexico Border Program, Forever Resorts, H.E.A.R.T., H.E.B., National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Park Foundation, Seashore Learning Center, Seaspace, Shell Oil Company Foundation, Unilever HPC-USA, and various individuals. Many other entities assisted by being alert for nesting while conducting beach activities, providing educational outreach, facilitating data collection and transfer, etc. The patrol programs on South Padre Island and Boca Chica Beach were conducted in conjunction with some of these same partners listed above as well as others not listed.

2000 Release Dates for Kemp's Ridley and Other Sea Turtles:
Clutch 1   June 2-4  (released: June 3  111 hatchlings)
Clutch 2   June 7-11 (released: June 8  46 hatchlings; June 10  65 hatchlings; June 12  1 hatchling)
Clutch 3   June 7-10  (released: June 10  69 hatchlings; June 12  1 hatchling)
Clutch 4   June 9-12  (released: June 10  66 hatchlings; June 12  4 hatchlings)
Clutch 5   June 18-22  (released: June 22  84 hatchlings)
Clutch 6   June 25-29  (released: June 26  55 hatchlings; June 27  55 hatchlings)
Clutch 7   June 29-July 2  (released: July 2  49 hatchlings; July 3  43 hatchlings)
Clutch 8   June 29-July2  (released: July 3  55 hatchlings)
Clutch 9   July 6-9  (released: July 8  74 hatchlings; July 9  7 hatchlings; July 10  4 hatchlings)
Clutch 10   July 6-9  (released: July 7  87 hatchlings; July 8  9 hatchlings)
Clutch 11   July 22-25  (released: July )
Clutch 13   July 28-August 6 (loggerhead) (released: August 3  11 hatchlings; August 4  13 hatchlings)
Clutch 14   August 1-5 (loggerhead)  (released: August 4  98 hatchlings)
Clutch 15   August 18-22 (loggerhead)  (released: August 21  92 hatchlings)
Clutch 16   August 30-September 2 (loggerhead)  (released: Sept 2  1 hatchling; Sept 3  97 hatchlings; Sept 4  2 hatchlings)
Clutch 17   August  30-September 2 (green) (released: Sept 1  50 hatchlings; Sept 3  6 hatchlings; Sept 4  5 hatchlings; Sept 5  3 hatchlings)
Clutch 18   Sept 5-9 (loggerhead)  (released: Sept 10  14 hatchlings; Sept 11  26 hatchlings; Sept 12  1 hatchling)