Kemp's ridley sea turtle preservation program
Unilever's nine-year commitment to Padre Island National Seashore's Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle Science and Recovery Program exceeds $135,000. With nearly sixty-percent of all Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles in the United States nesting at the Seashore, Padre Island stands as one of the most important nesting beaches in the world. In 2007, with the help of volunteers, the park documented 73 nests resulting in the release of 8,897 hatchlings into the Gulf of Mexico.
To find out how to get involved visit www.nps.gov.
TURTLE TRIVIA
Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles nest from April to July and are the only known turtle species to nest during the day, which is called diurnal nesting.
Dating back 90 million years, sea turtles are among the earth's oldest
surviving species that were contemporaries of the dinosaur.
Spanish explorers named a group of Caribbean islands the Tortugas (Spanish
for turtles) because the seas swarmed with these reptiles.
Little is known about young Kemp's ridleys at sea, however they have
been found as far north as Massachusetts.
Adult Kemp's ridleys feed mostly on crabs but, eat shrimp, snails, sea
urchins, sea stars, jellyfish and sea grass.
The Kemp's ridley are named after Richard Kemp of Key West, Florida,
who sent a specimen to Harvard University in 1880.