Texas Sea Turtle Nests Rise 55% to 697
Officials documented 697 Kemp's ridley sea turtle nests on the Texas coast during the 2026 nesting season, up from 449 in 2025.
Updated on Nov. 11, 2026 in Reptiles
Live Poll
Would you report a nesting or stranded sea turtle on a Texas beach?
The National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and partners recorded 697 Kemp's ridley sea turtle nests on the Texas coast in 2026, a 55% increase from the 449 nests recorded in 2025. Sea Turtle Inc. protected 58 nests on Boca Chica Beach between April and August, compared with 16 last year.
Why it matters
Kemp's ridley sea turtles were driven to the edge of extinction by habitat loss, egg collection and fishing bycatch, so a rising nest count signals progress in a decades-long recovery effort. The gains matter for Texas coastal ecosystems that depend on these turtles.
Officials counted 697 Kemp's ridley nests on the Texas coast in 2026, up 55% from 449 in 2025, a count drawn from coastal monitoring by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and partners. The extraction does not report how many hatchlings from these nests survived to adulthood.
The players
National Park Service
The federal agency that manages Padre Island National Seashore and partnered in documenting the 2026 nest count.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
The federal agency that co-led the 2026 nest documentation with the National Park Service and partners.
Sea Turtle Inc.
A nonprofit organization that protected 58 nests on Boca Chica Beach during the 2026 season.
The details
Eggs laid on Mexico's Rancho Nuevo beach were collected and taken to Padre Island National Seashore in South Texas, where they were incubated and hatched. Hatchlings were released onto the beach to imprint on the area, later recaptured and raised in Galveston until large enough to be tagged and released.
Timeline
1906: Richard M. Kemp of Key West, Florida, first submitted the species for identification.
1978: Wildlife officials launched a 10-year restoration action plan.
1996: The first tagged reintroduced turtles returned to Padre Island to nest.
April to August 2026: Sea Turtle Inc. protected 58 nests on Boca Chica Beach.
Recovery Context
The 2026 increase continues the trajectory set by the 1978 restoration action plan, which aimed to rebuild a species once driven to the brink of extinction. The first reintroduced turtles returned to nest on Padre Island in 1996, marking an early milestone in that recovery effort.
Texas beachgoers and coastal residents may encounter nesting areas and should keep their distance from marked turtle nests. Nesting turtles should be kept at least 100 feet away to avoid disturbing them.
The takeaway
Sustained nest counts show that decades of protection can reverse a species' decline, and supporting coastal monitoring and turtle-safe fishing practices helps keep that progress going.
Further reading
Explore more Reptiles coverage for context on wildlife conservation efforts like this one.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Accuweather.
Live Poll
Would you report a nesting or stranded sea turtle on a Texas beach?
