NPS Photo

A Kemp's ridley returns to sea with a transmitter affixed for tracking the sea turtle's movement via satellite. The transmitter may last for up to a year or longer.

The National Park Service is conducting a program to detect, study, and protect nesting Kemp’s ridley sea turtles and sea turtle nests on North Padre Island, including Padre Island National Seashore. This program is made possible due to funding from the federal government, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, a variety of partners and donors, and the aid of over 100 volunteers.

Kemp's ridley sea turtle nests found on the Texas coast during 2009

*Follow this link to see a map along with pertinent data on the Kemp's ridley turtles found on the Texas cost.

Leatherback turtle nests found on the Texas coast during 2009

Loggerhead Sea Turtle Nests Found on the Texas Coast During 2009

Green sea turtle nests found on the Texas coast during 2009

Kemp’s ridley turtles nest on the Texas coast between April and mid-July. Padre Island National Seashore staff and volunteers patrol daily from April through mid-July. These patrols are conducted during daylight hours, from about 6:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m., since Kemp’s ridley turtles nest mostly during the day. Staff and volunteers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Texas, Texas A&M University at Galveston, Sea Turtle, Inc., Sea Turtle Restoration Project, and other entities also search for nesting Kemp’s ridley turtles and their eggs on other Texas beaches. Nesting turtles, tracks, and nests are located by patrollers, others working on the beach, and beach users.

When possible, nesting turtles are examined for tags. They are also examined to determine if they are from the project that was initiated to re-establish a nesting colony of Kemp’s ridley sea turtles at the National Seashore, and whether they have nested and been tagged previously. Nesting turtles are tagged if they do not already have one, in order to better monitor the populations of nesting turtles.

Eggs from most sea turtle nests found at Padre Island National Seashore and northward along the Texas coast are transported to our incubation facility for protected care and monitoring. Hatchlings from these nests released at the northern end of Padre Island National Seashore. Eggs from 10-20 of the nests found at the southern end of Padre Island National Seashore are incubated in a screen enclosure called a corral, located at the base camp near the National Seashore’s 40-mile marker, and the resulting hatchlings are released there. Eggs from nests found on South Padre Island and Boca Chica Beach are transported to a corral on South Padre Island, and hatchlings emerging from those nests are released on South Padre Island. Each year, a few nests that are not found at egg laying incubate at the nest site (in situ) for their entire incubation period on the Texas coast. 

How to Attend a Hatchling Release During 2009

Hatchlings from eggs incubated within the Padre Island National Seashore incubation facility will be released beginning in late-May or early-June 2009, depending when the first nests are found. These releases will be held at the northern end of Padre Island National Seashore, starting at about 6:30-6:45 am. Between 10 and 20 of these releases will be open to the public, free-of-charge. Once nests are found, the dates when these nests were located and the predicted hatchling release dates for them will be listed on this website. Hatchlings are typically released on one or two days within each of the predicted release date ranges. People interested in attending a release should target dates when several clutches are due to be released. This ensures that if one or more clutches enter their very active state called a frenzy when they must be released, that there will still be other clutches available for the public release. As the potential release date that you are interested in nears, call the recorded Hatchling Hotline at (361) 949-7163 for the latest information on the upcoming release.