Ridley's sea turtles make nearly 200 nests on Texas coast

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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas -- With every set of tiny flippers that makes its way into the Gulf of Mexico, turtle researchers are looking toward the future.A record 195 Kemp's ridley turtle nests were found on the Texas coast this nesting season, which runs from April to mid-July. It's the fifth consecutive record-breaking year since record keeping began in 1980. Last year, 128 nests were found."The fact that we had a record-breaking year that followed another gets us very excited about the prospects for next year and future years," said Donna Shaver, chief of sea turtle science and recovery at Padre Island National Seashore.The facility will continue to incubate eggs through this week, Shaver said.Kemp's ridleys, among the smallest known sea turtles, typically nest during the day between the high-tide line and the base of the sand dunes. During nesting season, employees and volunteers from the Padre Island seashore look for turtle tracks and nesting sites, which are documented. Any eggs are placed in protective incubation and monitored closely."The volunteer efforts that go into monitoring the nests and keeping an eye on the turtles during that really crucial time takes an awful lot of people's time and effort," said Elizabeth Slown, spokeswoman for the southwest region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.Of the 195 nests confirmed in Texas, five were found on Mustang Island and 104 on North Padre Island, including the Padre Island National Seashore.While monitoring Kemp's ridley turtles, volunteers discovered other turtle nesting sites. These sites belonged to four green turtles, four loggerheads and one leatherback."Kemp's really take on the role of keeping the momentum going for preserving other turtles," Slown said. "They're doing really well. Doing well gives people hope.The leatherback nesting site garnered much publicity because it was the first on a Texas beach since the 1930s. But none of the recovered leatherback eggs hatched."We are trying to look at this in a positive way -- that this was our first confirmed record on the Padre Island National Seashore in over 70 years," Shaver said. "Hopefully that can be an indication of additional nests in the future."When conservation efforts began back in the early 1980s, patrollers were finding one sea turtle nest on the Texas coast every three years, Shaver said."We had to struggle to find volunteers," she said. This year, Shaver estimates they had about 120 who donated their time."As the numbers go up, we intensify our education," she said. "Then the awareness goes up, which intensifies publicity. And then it builds."Robert Humphrey, 65, has volunteered at the national seashore during Kemp's ridley nesting season for eight years. Working once a week, he patrolled 45 to 50 miles of shoreline searching for turtle tracks and nests."In the beginning, when you find a small amount of nests you question, 'Is it really helping?' " he said. "But after this year? Well, it's got to be successful."(Contact Susan Harr of the Caller-Times in Corpus Christi, Texas, at www.caller.com.)