For the first time in three quarters of a century, sea turtle hatchlings have been observed on Louisiana’s Chandeleur Islands.
The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) discovered hatchlings of the endangered Kemp’s ridley turtles in the Breton National Wildlife Refuge.
CPRA and LDWF have closely monitored the Chandeleur Islands since May as part of an effort by the Regionwide Trustee Implementation Group to design a project that will restore the islands after they were impacted by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and numerous tropical weather systems over the years.
The discovery of nesting sea turtles will help shape future restoration plans for the island and ensure sea turtle nesting habitat is preserved and improved. The finding is the first known observation of wild sea turtle hatchlings on the Chandeleur Islands in at least 75 years. So far more than 53 sea turtle crawls have been documented and two live hatchlings have been observed making their way to the water.
