CALL OF THE SEA INITIAL RELEASE DATE HOW TO

Sometimes a nest is not found and incubates at the original nesting site. All you can see are containers of sand or a fenced area of sand. But even if these areas were open, the eggs are buried in the sand and are not visible. These protected areas where the nests are incubated are not open to the public because the embryos developing in the eggs are extremely fragile and may not survive if disturbed. Others are moved to an incubation facility. Some nests are moved to fenced beach areas called corrals. Specially trained and permitted staff help locate the eggs that are buried deep in the sand.Īll sea turtle nests that are found when they are laid are moved to protected areas. The Kemp's ridley, the sea turtle found nesting most often in Texas, nests anytime between April and August.Įach year, all along the Texas coast, different organizations and volunteers patrol the beaches, looking for the females on the beach, the tracks left by the females, or other signs that nesting occurred. She never comes back to check on the eggs or hatchlings. After nesting she returns to the sea, leaving tracks as she crawls across the beach. When a sea turtle nests, she digs a hole deep in the sand, lays her eggs in the hole, then covers the eggs with sand to hide them from predators. Sea turtles must leave the water and crawl up onto the beach to lay their eggs. Where do the nests come from? How do you find them?

CALL OF THE SEA INITIAL RELEASE DATE HOW TO

For information on how you might see sea turtles (either in the wild or during a public release) in this area at different times of the year, go to our How to See a Sea Turtle page. Check out our Cold Stunned Sea Turtles page for more information about releases of sea turtles during the winter. Sometimes we release cold stunned sea turtles during the winter, but those releases are very different. Staff from the Division of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery at Padre Island National Seashore excavate eggs from a sea turtle nest.ĭo you ever release sea turtles at other times of the year? Volunteers and Park Rangers also bring hatchlings around for visitors to get a close-up look and take no-flash photos.Ĭan't make it out to the National Seashore to watch a hatchling release? Don't worry, you can view videos of past hatchling releases on our YouTube Channel. However, the hatchlings usually take 20-45 minutes to make their way across the beach and into the water, affording time for everyone to get a good view. More people attend the first release, on weekends, and on holidays. Hundreds of people may be at a public hatchling release. Once those dates are near, call our Hatchling Hotline (36) or check the park Facebook page to find out the latest information about the next scheduled public release. If you can, plan to visit over a period of several days when multiple nests are due to hatch. Your chances of seeing a sea turtle hatchling release are best when several nests are due to hatch at about the same time. Check our Current Nesting Season page to see how many nests have been found this year and when they are expected to hatch. Similar to a human pregnancy, each nest found is given an approximate 'due date' - a range of dates during which we think that the nest will most likely hatch. Like all babies, the hatchlings decide when they are ready. NOTE: Most GPS units and smart phones do NOT accurately locate the park and will lead you to the wrong place! Please follow our map and directions to find the park and the public hatchling release site.īecause we cannot predict exactly when a sea turtle nest will hatch, not all hatchling releases are public, and hatchling releases do not occur daily or on a regular schedule. on Malaquite Beach in front of the Visitor Center at Padre Island National Seashore on North Padre Island in Corpus Christi, Texas. Most releases that are open to the public take place at 6:45 a.m. Hatchling releases typically occur from mid-June through August. Learn and Explore During the summer at Padre Island National Seashore we release Kemp’s ridley sea turtle hatchlings from nests that were laid in the park and along parts of the Texas coast.

Call of the sea initial release date