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Sea turtle hatchlings released Saturday morning

Hundreds gathered at the Padre Island National Seashore Saturday morning for the release of 232 Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle hatchlings.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Saturday a public release of the endangered Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle hatchlings took place for the first time in two years.

The pandemic shut down these public releases last year, Saturday park officials released 232 hatchlings in front of a crowd of hundreds at the Padre Island National Seashore.

The hatchlings were from six nests collected on June 7. Dr. Donna Shaver says having people at these public releases is important to their mission of saving this endangered species.

"Learning about them and seeing about them helps to set that inspiration in them so that they become ambassadors talk to their neighbors and are careful of their actions when driving on the beach and when their fishing etc.,” said Dr. Shaver.

There are two more public releases scheduled for next month on august 4 and 5 and August 4 happens to be a fee free day at the park.

There are some factors that could cancel those public releases, Dr. Shaver say it depends on authorization from the county health district and national parks service and of course the turtles hatching in time.

For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.

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