For more information

Publications:

Mackay, K., 1997, Turtles take plunge in Texas: National Parks, v. 71, no. 11/12, p. 11.

National Geographic, 1997, Sea turtles swim "home" to Texas: National Geographic, v. 191, no. 4.

Shaver, D.J., 1990, Kemp's Ridley Project at Padre Island enters a new phase: Park Science, v. 10, no. 1, p. 12-13.

Shaver, D.J., 1997, Kemp's ridley turtles from an international project return to Texas to nest, in Proceedings from the Sixteenth Annual Gulf of Mexico Information Transfer Meeting, December 10-12, 1996, New Orleans, Louisiana: Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, MMS 97-0038, p. 38-40.

Shaver, D.J., Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Project at Padre Island National Seashore, Texas, in Proceedings from the Seventeenth Annual Gulf of Mexico Information Transfer Meeting, December 16-18, 1997, New Orleans, Louisiana: Minerals Management Service, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, In press.

Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Returns to Padre Island

The world's most endangered sea turtle is making a comeback on the Texas coast where USGS scientists have helped the National Park Service (NPS) establish a new nesting site at Padre Island National Seashore.

Until recently, the only known nesting location for the Kemp's ridley sea turtle was on the Gulf Coast of Mexico, where they had reached the brink of extinction. In 1978, the United States and Mexico launched an international recovery effort to save the endangered sea turtle. Between 1978 and 1988, 22,507 Kemp's ridley turtle eggs were transplanted from Rancho Nuevo, Mexico, about 250 miles north, to Padre Island, where they were incubated and hatched. Turtles were imprinted on Padre Island's protected beaches and then reared in captivity for 11 months prior to release into the Gulf of Mexico.

In 1996, USGS scientists confirmed that two of their hatchlings had returned to the Texas coast to nest, the first indication that a secondary nesting colony was being established. By August 1998, three more turtles had returned. The number of Kemp's ridley nests discovered on the Texas coast has more than doubled from 6 in 1996 to 13 in 1998.

USGS and NPS staff and volunteers search local beaches to detect, document, and protect nesting Kemp's ridley turtles and their eggs. Located eggs are transferred to the incubation facility for protected care. USGS scientists also gather biological data on the eggs and turtles that will be used in the conservation of this species. Of the 968 eggs incubated by USGS scientists during 1997, 92.6 percent hatched, and 893 hatchlings were released into the Gulf of Mexico. The recent nestings give researchers great hope that a secondary nesting

Two Kemp's ridley hatchlings released on the beach at Padre Island National Seashore.

USGS and NPS personnel release Kemp's ridley hatchlings at Padre Island National Seashore. Because the media and public are extremely interested in this project, they are invited to attend most hatchling releases.

colony in the United States will continue to be successful, adding substantially to the long-term survival of the Kemp's ridley turtle.

Protecting this species is a cooperative venture of the USGS, NPS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Park Foundation, Canon U.S.A., Mexico's Instituto Nacional de la Pesca, and many other organizations.

A Kemp's ridley turtle hatched at Padre Island National Seashore in 1983 returned to nest in 1996. This was the first turtle from the experimental project confirmed to have nested at Padre Island National Seashore or any other location outside of captivity.

Turtles Go High-Tech, Tracked by Satellite

In June 1997, USGS scientists attached satellite transmitters on the backs of two Kemp's ridley sea turtles that had nested in south Texas and began using satellite telemetry to monitor their movements. Both turtles immediately moved northward and spent most of their time in Gulf of Mexico waters off the coast of Louisiana. Scientists wanted to know where the turtles went after nesting and which areas they preferred. The satellite tracking indicated that neither turtle had nested elsewhere after the transmitters had been affixed.

Four more transmitters were deployed on Kemp's ridley turtles that nest in south Texas during 1998. Tracking information will be used to help find nesting sites and to help protect breeding turtles in the marine environment.

Kemp's ridley sea turtle outfitted with a satellite transmitter returns to the Gulf of Mexico, where its movements will be monitored by USGS scientists.