Photo Gallery (U.S. National Park Service)

View Sea Turtles including the Kemp's ridley.

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Green sea turtle hatchling faces the Gulf surf.

Green sea turtle hatchling fac...

1944 x 2592
2.2 MB

When sea turtle nests are found along the seashore, the eggs are placed in boxes filled with sand from around their nest and incubated. When the eggs hatch, the hatchlings dig their way to the surface.

Green sea turtle hatchlings in...

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1.1 MB

Green sea turtle hatchlings are only about two inches long.

Green sea turtle hatchling

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1.4 MB

A few green sea turtles nest each year on Padre Island.

Green sea turtle on shore

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0.5 MB

Hawksbills used to be hunted (and still are in some parts of the world) for their beautiful shells, which were used in the making of "tortoise shell" jewelry.

Juvenile hawksbill in sargassu...

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0.9 MB

This is a very young hawksbill. Adults weigh over 95 lbs.

Juvenile hawksbill

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0.2 MB

Leatherbacks normally nest at night. None have been recorded nesting on Padre Island since the 1930s-40s.

Leatherback returning to sea

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0.6 MB

The scutes on a loggerhead's head can be clearly seen here. The only way to postively identify a species of sea turtle is by counting the scutes between their eyes.

Loggerhead

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0.1 MB

Loggerheads usually nest at night, as do most sea turtle species.

Nesting loggerhead

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1.6 MB

Loggerhead hatchlings are only about two inches long and have a brownish tint.

Loggerhead hatchling

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0.1 MB

Kemp's ridleys are the only species of sea turtle that normally nest during the day.

Kemp's ridley mother returning...

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3.2 MB

Sea turtle eggs are very carefully placed in incubation boxes so as to preserve the same orientation they had in the nest.

Kemp's ridley eggs in incubati...

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3.1 MB

The difference in coloration between the upper and lower sides of a Kemp's can be clearly seen here.

Kemp's ridley profile

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2.9 MB

Kemp's ridley normally nest only once per year, but they lay around 100 eggs per nest.

Kemp's ridley nesting

2048 x 3072
2.8 MB

Because of the way the yolk of a sea turtle is positioned in the shell, sea turtle eggs must be packed in incubation boxes with the same orientation they had in the nest in order to hatch properly.

Placing eggs in an incubation ...

2048 x 3072
2.8 MB

Every year the National Seashore attaches transmitters to the backs of a few ridleys so that their movements can be tracked over the next year.

Kemp's ridley with transmitter

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1.5 MB

Kemp's ridley hatchlings are charcoal gray, but their color changes as they mature to olive green above and sand below.

Kemp's ridley hatchling

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2.1 MB

It is estimated that, if Kemp's ridleys hatch naturally in the wild, maybe 1 in 100 will survive to adulthood.

Two Kemp's ridley hatchlings

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2.1 MB

By incubating Kemp's ridley eggs, the National Seashore hopes to increase the survival rate of hatchlings to adulthood by 3 to 5 times.

Three Kemp's ridley hatchlings

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2.0 MB

Kemp's ridley hatchlings are believed to somehow remember the beach where they are hatched. The exact mechanism that makes this possible is unknown.

Kemp's ridley hatchling

2048 x 3072
2.9 MB

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