Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Sea Turtle Inc., and Lower Rio Grande Valley Wildlife Refuge partner to conduct the South Texas Sea Turtle Nest Recovery project, through which nesting Kemp's ridley and other sea turtles and their nests and hatchlings are located and protected.  This project includes both South Padre Island and Boca Chica beaches, both of which contain lands owned by Laguna Atascosa and Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR's.

Patrols for nesting sea turtles began on April 4, 2008.  On April 12, 2008, the first Kemp's ridley nest was found for the 2008 season in Texas and the United States was located through this project.  On April 24, 2008, four additional nests, two false crawls (where a nesting female emerged onto the beach but did not deposit a nest), and one unknown (where a nest may have been deposited but could not be found) were found, all of them Kemp's ridley.  On April 26, 2008, another four additional Kemp's ridley nests were located.  On April 30, 2008, two more Kemp's ridley nests were found. 

Totals for April 2008, include eleven Kemp's ridley nests, comprised of eight nests on South Padre Island and three nests on Boca Chica beach, two false crawls, and one unknown on South Padre Island.  These eleven nests contained a total of 1,057 eggs.  The adult nesting female was observed at eight of the eleven nests and at the unknown site.  All nests found were relocated to a protective corral on South Padre Island.