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Dedication helps ensure sea turtles’ survival
Published August 7, 2009
Unlike some of the higher-profile endangered species — like the spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest that interfered with logging or the prairie grouse, whose flight path might intersect with energy-generating windmills — the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle never made for good headlines.
The closest interaction the turtle has with man is by making its way maybe a few hundred yards onto Gulf Coast beaches, burying its eggs, then heading back out to sea.
But because they had a tendency to become tangled in commercial fishing nets and their eggs were treated as a delicacy in Mexico, the number of Kemp’s ridleys dwindled. That prompted official action on the part of wildlife officials and a change in federal law governing the fishing nets, making it less likely the turtles would be trapped.
These efforts helped, as did work to raise public awareness about the turtle’s battle against extinction and inform beachcombers what to do if they brushed up against a Kemp’s ridley or her eggs. While there still is much work to do before the smallest sea turtle to inhabit Gulf waters can be considered from removal from the endangered list, progress obviously has been made.
It is perhaps the public’s involvement in the rebound of the turtle that is most gratifying. For four consecutive years now, a record number of Kemp’s ridley nests have been located along the Texas Gulf Coast. The record-setter this year — No. 196 — was found a couple weekends ago in Quintana. Many of the nests are found by everyday folks, some by mere happenstance and some because those Average Joes gave up a little bit of their time to help search for them.
When the nests are found, experts are called to collect the eggs, pack them with some of the sand from the original nest and ship them to the Padre Island National Seashore. There, the eggs are incubated, and, when they’re large enough to survive, the young turtles are released into the Gulf of Mexico.
The numbers show the effort is working. The official count for this year’s recently ended nesting season is 198 nests found, including nine in Brazoria County. Last year, it was 195, both giant leaps from the 102 found just three summers ago.
“We’ve been collecting these nests and ensuring that these young turtles make it safely back into the Gulf of Mexico, and I think that what we’re seeing is the good things that have happened from this program over the last 30 years,” said Jennifer Sanchez of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
It’s reasonable to suspect 2010 will be another record year for the turtle, in no small part because of the dedication of average folks stepping up to preserve another of nature’s creatures.
This editorial was written by Michael Morris, assistant managing editor of The Facts.
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