From Nest to Sea

As summer is approaching, it is important to take care of marine life like turtles who are vulnerable in this coming season.

At South Padre Island, a nonprofit organization called the Sea Turtle Inc. focuses on helping wounded turtles and educating Rio Grande Valley residents on keeping the species safe.

Wendy Knight, chief executive officer of Sea Turtle Inc., said the organization was started by Co-Founder Isla Fox Letcher over 50 years ago. The nonprofit has since been run by volunteers and employees who have a passion for helping turtles. 

“Our nonprofit was created solely for the purpose of sea turtles because they nest here on South Padre Island,” Knight said. 

She added there are two types of turtles at the island. One of them is the Kemp Ridley, who nest between April and September every year and are classified as near extinction. Then there are the Atlantic Greens, who live in the Laguna Madre Bay and eat sea grass from the bay. 

During the seasons there will be other turtle species like Hawksbills and Loggerheads that will appear on the island.

“Sea turtles swim and go where the food is, so it’s possible that we have them all,” she said. 

UTRGV Professor Roldan A. Valverde, director of the School of Earth, Environmental and Marine Sciences, said when sea turtles consume trash it gets stuck in their intestines, which causes them to stop eating and die from lack of nourishment. 

“There are two bad things about plastic, it doesn’t biodegrade, which means it stays in the environment and it also can be turned into microplastics,” Valverde said.

According to him, microplastics can be absorbed through the intestinal wall, enter the tissues, the blood circulation, organs such as the brain and accumulate in the turtles’ kidneys. This can be dangerous because the side effects of microplastics are still unknown. 

“All marine animals are impacted by marine debris,” Knight said.  “[At] Sea Turtle Inc. one of the things we teach people is how they can improve sea turtle conservation.”

Knight said on average turtles take up to 65 days to recover.  He described the treatment process as starting with taking blood values from turtles. The volunteers then take CT scans, x-rays and evaluate their health conditions. 

The turtles are then released back into the Gulf of Mexico after they are completely healed. 

“For treatment, you should associate it like if a person went to the hospital, same thing for a turtle,” she said. 

Professor Valverde said the importance of sea turtles is they eat jellyfish and keep the population down, which allows humans to swim more freely in the ocean. 

The Sea Turtle Inc. wants to encourage the public to respect the beach and other species that live there. 

“A person could be walking or sitting and a turtle can lay its nest right next to that person. It’s a unique experience, but it comes with a lot of responsibility,” Knight said. 

  She explained the beach has signs that instruct people if they see a turtle to contact them on their 24 hour day stranding line at 956-243-4361. 

If residents were to find a turtle in the island, the signs display the organization’s contact information. 

“All these animals like birds, lions, dolphins all play an important role in the ecosystem, sea turtles are the same,” said Valverde.

The Sea Turtle Inc. offers intern programs for environmental, marketing outreach for biology teachers and public relations for experience. In addition, the Inc. offers UTRGV students two generalized course credits through Doctor Cabo and Pamela Herring. 

The Sea Turtle Inc. is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday at 1t 6617 Padre Blvd, South Padre Island, TX 78597.