The South Texas Sea Turtle Project, a cooperative conservation project to locate and protect nesting Kemp’s ridley and other sea turtles and their nests on South Padre Island and Boca Chica Beaches in southernmost Texas, continued in May.  Daily patrols are conducted by trained volunteers, interns, and staff from April through mid-July each year. 

Nine Kemp’s ridley nests were located in May, bringing the total sea turtle nests found in the area this year to fourteen.  Nests were found on May 5 (3 nests), May 19 (2 nests), May 20 (1 nest), May 21 (1 nest), May 22 (1 nest), and May 23, 2007 (1 nest).  These nests each contained 75 – 119 eggs.  All nine were Kemp’s ridley nests and all were found on South Padre Island.  Three of the nests were found by Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge interns, five were found by interns and volunteers from Sea Turtle Inc., and one was found by a visitor.  All of the nests were relocated to a protective corral on South Padre Island, where they will be monitored until they hatch.  The South Texas Sea Turtle Project is a cooperative conservation partnership between Sea Turtle, Inc., Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, and Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.