Endanged sea turtle hatchlings released on South Padre Island

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — More than 100 beachgoers gathered early Thursday morning hoping to see 92 endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle hatchlings scurry to the surf.

If anyone blinked, they had more than a half an hour left to watch the critters inch across the sand.

In fact, someone from the crowd joked, many of the babies appeared to lounge around like teenagers — hesitant to stir in the early morning.

Tara Dunn, 9, came with her family from the East Texas town of Orange.

“They were just sitting there, being adorable,” Tara said. “They’re always lazy — they’re not like the ones going in the water. They’re just sitting there, not doing anything at all.”

Tara’s mother, Tina, said her daughter had a preconception of sea turtles from watching the animated movie Finding Nemo.

Older sister Tabitha, 14, agreed that the babies moved slower than expected.

Biologists nearby placed the more sluggish turtles together so vibrations from the siblings’ movements would spur the group into a “frenzy” and prompt an instinctive rush toward the surf.

The scientists poured water on other turtles.

“Some are real quick, but this is pretty typical,” said Jeff George, curator for Sea Turtle Inc., which coordinated the hatchlings’ release. “This gives people a good idea of why such a small percentage make it to adult status.

“When you pull them out of the nest at 3:30 (a.m.), nature hasn’t really taken its course with them. It takes a while to warm up with the sun. It’s just that we’re ever slightly altering what nature does.”

Many people said they called the center every day in the days before Wednesday’s public release, waiting on South Padre Island until they know the critters would be all set.

“I love seeing their little footprints going out and the trails they make,” said Sheroyl Kirby, of Three Rivers, Mich. “You knew they were going to be tiny, but they’re just so tiny. … And each one is different, just like kids.”

This year’s nesting season is setting records along the Texas coast, except for Boca Chica Beach, where Thursday’s hatchlings came from one of only two nests found there since April, George said. Last year, patrols on Boca Chica yielded seven nests.

“Everybody but Boca Chica Beach has exceeded numbers from last year,” he said, without saying why the stretch of beach near Brownsville differed.

Seventeen nests have already been found on South Padre Island this season. Last year, biologists and volunteers found 14.

The hatchlings released Thursday were found not by a volunteer or an official patrol, but by Don Moore, a Brownsville man with a beach shack on Boca Chica.

“I had gone to town for some ice,” Moore said, “and when I came back I saw tracks.”