This Kemp’s ridley sea turtle was born on Padre Island in 1988. She returned this year to lay 114 eggs. Fitted with a new tracking device, she is now swimming along the shoreline near the ranger’s station at Padre Island National Seashore. PHoto courtesy PINS
Sea turtle nesting season is in full swing, with 33 spotted as of May 9 at Padre Island National Seashore. One very special mother turtle was a return visitor, said Dr. Donna Shaver, Chief of the Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery at PINS.
“She was a particularly exciting find because that was a turtle I hatched in 1988,” Shaver said. “She was part of a project where we received eggs from Mexico to restore Kemp’s ridley sea turtles on Padre Island.”
The eggs came packed in Padre Island Sand, which had been shipped to Mexico for that purpose. The program, which continued from 1978 to 1988, brought the eggs to PINS for incubation. They were hatched, released on the beach and allowed to crawl into the surf. They were then captured and shipped to a lab in Galveston for “rearing in captivity.”
“It was called the Head Start Program,” Shaver said. “It was started at about the time as the same program for kids through a similar thought process: it was a way to give them a boost in life, give them a better chance for survival.”
Once the turtles were large enough to avoid predators, they were tagged for future recognition and released. These living tags are similar to skin grafts, leaving large white spots on the turtle’s carapace.
“That’s how we knew this one,” Shaver said. “From her markings. She had been here to nest before, too.”
Known as No. 113 when she came on shore, this particular turtle was fitted with a new tracking device and can be followed online at seaturtle.org as No. 152803. Click on “Track a Sea Turtle,” which is the last photo on the right across the bottom to find out where No. 152803 is — at least until the transmitter falls off.
“They always come off,” Shaver said. “Sometimes they last only a few weeks or a few months, but sometimes they stay on for a couple of years.”
Equipped with a Sirtrack Kiwisat 202 satellite transmitter with an antenna rising off her back, this turtle has so far stayed close to the ranger station at PINS.
When she came ashore May 2, she laid about 114 eggs. Some 95 of them are expected to hatch and eventually be released into the surf. Only one or two of them will ultimately survive, Shaver said.
Several weeks are left in the nesting season. Beach goers are asked to watch for nesting turtles. If you see one, please immediately report it to a passing turtle patroller or call (361) 949-8173, ext. 226 (if on North Padre Island) or (866) TURTLE5 (if you are elsewhere in Texas).
Public releases of hatchlings are expected to begin sometime between June 11-15 and continue throughout June and July, and maybe even into August. To find out when a public release is planned, you can call 361-949-7163 or follow the national seashore’s Facebook page for updates.
