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Sandhill Shores Mom photo by NOAA Fisheries |
Ultrasound showing more eggs photo by Erin E. Seney |
Overnight accomodations photo by Erin E. Seney |
Sandhill Shores Mom photo by NOAA Fisheries Ultrasound showing more eggs photo by Erin E. Seney Overnight accomodations photo by Erin E. Seney
FIRST GALVESTON TURTLE NESTING OF 2005!
A crew from the Galveston Parks Board (Mike Wallace, Kenneth Fields, Keith Hollins, Rodney Billingsley and Lorenzo Shaw) sighted a Kemp's ridley nesting late Monday morning, May 16, at Sandhill Shores on the West end of Galveston Island. Ben Higgins and Heather Walker of NOAA Fisheries responded to the call and retrieved 103 eggs which were packed in styrofoam egg transport container. The nest was behind a small dune (2.5' tall) about 120 feet from the water.
The turtle was 65.8 cm SCL (Straight carapace length) and 65.0 cm SCW(width). It had a several types of tags, including a living tag indicating it was a turtle from the 1992 year class of the headstart project (final year). This turtle would have been imprinted as a hatchling in Mexico. It was captive reared at the NOAA Fisheries Service Sea Turtle Facility and released on 5/18/1993 offshore of Galveston, Texas. The flipper tag was badly bent and distorted but still remained clean and readable after 12 years at sea.
The eggs are being transported to Padre Island National Seashore for incubation by Linda Moorehead of PINS. The turtle was returned to the NOAA Fisheries Facility and fitted with a satellite tag and released near the nesting site on May 17th by Erin Seney and Andre Landry of Texas A&M University at Galveston, and Ben Higgins and Shanna Kethan from NOAA.
Dr. Joe Flanagan of the Houston Zoo did an ultrasound on her and noted that she still has eggs inside, meaning she may nest again this season. Ridley's tend to nest every 3-4 weeks during the nesting season which is, generally, mid-April through mid-July.
The turtle will be known by her flipper tags, RRV 319 & RRV 320. You can track her movements at the website www.seaturtle.org beginning around May 20, 2005. Search for her under "Satellite Tracking-TAMUG Kemp's Ridley Tracking".
Go to Article in Galveston County Daily News
Go to Article in Houston Chronicle