keep your eye peeled
Authorities ask Texas beachgoers to be aware of sea turtle nesting sites
Kemp's Ridley sea turtle's are on of the species that Texans should look out for on the beaches.
For the next three months, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is asking Texas beachgoers to be on the lookout for sea turtle nesting sites. Reporting the sites to the authorities allow them to be protected during a critical moment in the endangered species' development.
“The public can help us protect these imperiled species by keeping an eye out and reporting all nesting sea turtles, their nests, and hatchlings from late March through September,” said Mary Kay Skoruppa, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sea Turtle Coordinator for Texas. “We also ask that visitors drive slowly and carefully on beaches so that vehicles do not inadvertently collide with nesting turtles or emerging hatchlings. By working together, we can help ensure these species continue to find safe nesting conditions on the Texas coast now and into the future.”
Three species of turtles typically nest on the Texas coast: Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles, loggerhead turtles, and green sea turtles. They typically nest between late March and mid-July. Kemp's Ridley sea turtles are endangered, though the loggerhead and green sea turtles are now merely threatened after years of dedicated conservation efforts.
Though they spend most of their lives in the open ocean, sea turtles must return to land in order to lay their eggs. Once hatched, young turtles will make their way back to the ocean until they return to lay eggs themselves. During this period, the turtles are especially vulnerable to predators or destruction from human intervention.
That's why volunteers from Wildlife services, the National Park Service, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas A&M University at Galveston, the University of Texas Marine Science Institute, Sea Turtle, Inc., and Turtle Island Restoration Network patrol the beaches during this time to mark nesting sites and make sure they are undisturbed. However, the Texas coastline is 367 miles long and nearly ten times that distance including all the bays and estuaries. Covering even the spots turtles are known to nest is a daunting task.
That's where everyday Texans come in. Sea turtle nests appear as depressions in the sand, usually with long tracks from the turtles leading up to the spot they've buried the eggs. Beachgoers who spot nests should call 1-866-TURTLE-5 (1-866-887-8535). Once the location is called in, please stay with the nest until a representative arrives. If staying with the nest is not possible, draw a line in the sand around the nest and mark it with a natural object such as driftwood.
For beachgoers lucky enough to actually spot a sea turtle in the process of laying or burying their eggs. stay at least 100 feet away from the animal. Do not disturb them in any way.
Nearly half a century of conservation efforts have led to a slow recovery for the sea turtle population. According to U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Kemp's Ridley sea turtles made 340 nests on the Texas coast in 2024, a remarkable comeback after a sharp decline in the early 1980s. Establishing new nests in Texas has been instrumental in recovering the Kemp's Ridley sea turtle population after the species saw a catastrophic breeding population loss in their traditional Mexican nesting grounds near Rancho Nuevo. Dedicated volunteers and sharp-eyed concerned citizens are an intrinsic part of that recovery.
