Day Trips

The sea turtle hatchlings at Padre Island National Seashore raced toward the surf in a bumper-car sort of way. It wasn’t so much a race as it was an instinctive determination of the 3- to 4-inch turtles to escape into the Gulf waters.

“(The release of the hatchlings) is a sight we never would have seen without a few dedicated people,” says William “Buzz” Botts, head ranger at the national park. “A sea turtle’s life has never been easy.”

The unprotected eggs are often the victims of coyotes, raccoons, birds, and even high tide. If the eggs survive to the hatchling stage, the half-ounce turtles must then dig out of the sandy nest, make it to the water, and find the safety of a seaweed mat in the open ocean where they can grow larger than their predators. If a sea turtle survives all of that, then it has to contend with fishing nets, pollution, and the loss of habitat to live a normal life span of 30 to 50 years.

By the 1980s, the Kemp’s ridley turtles were down to a few hundred females nesting on a Mexican beach. Several wildlife organizations listed the species as the most endangered of sea turtles. Nobody knows exactly how many turtles are in the sea, says Dr. Donna Shaver, head of Sea Turtle Science and Recovery at Padre Island. She joined the sea turtle rescue program two years after it began in 1978 as a volunteer and has been head of the project since 1986.

Dr. Shaver estimates that about one in 100 eggs survives to adulthood in the wild. In the rescue program the odds rise to maybe four out 100. On July 15, 2005, 415 hatchlings were released, a possible record number for one release.

During the early summer months, the female Kemp’s, green, and loggerhead turtles laboriously crawl into the dunes to deposit 50 to 100 eggs. This year 51 nests have been found, Botts says. Eleven more than last year.

If volunteers reach the nests before predators, then the eggs are packed in Padre Island sand and brought to the incubation room at the park. Inaccessible to visitors, the room keeps the eggs in a hot, humid environment to simulate island conditions. “Since 1978 we have learned a lot about the incubation process,” Dr. Shaver says.

Within 45 to 60 days the turtles begin to break out of their shells. When the clutch begins to work itself into a “frenzy,” they’re ready to be released, Dr. Shaver says. This year she expects to have around 25 releases between late April and early September. The exact dates of the releases are impossible to predict.

The tiny turtles are placed on the sand about 100 to 150 feet from the surf and instinctively pull themselves to the water. Crossing the beach helps the turtles remember the location so they can return to lay more eggs. Only the females purposefully come on to land; the males spend their entire life at sea. It is impossible to tell the sex of a turtle until it is fully grown, Dr. Shaver says.

Once the turtles hit the water, their clumsiness disappears and they dart away with amazing ease and speed. Call the Hatchling Hotline (361/949-7163) to find out when and where the next sea turtle release is scheduled. The recorded message is often vague, and multiple calls are necessary to pinpoint a date. Sometimes, the ranger at Malaquite Visitor Center (361/949-8068) will know if a release is imminent. There is no fee to attend the event. For more information on the releases go to www.nps.gov/pais or www.ridleyturtles.org.

Releases typically begin around 6:30am and last for 15 to 45 minutes. Because the national park is a 45- to 60-minute drive from Corpus Christi, it is advisable to find accommodations on the island. Best Western has a location on the island side of the JFK Causeway Bridge. There are a half-dozen small hotels between the bridge and the park. The Passport Inn at 15378 S. Padre Island Dr. (631/949-8111) is a clean, no-frills motel about 20 minutes from the park.

This article appears in July 29 • 2005.