March 28th , 2009

The first Kempi Ridley Turtle, the most endangered of all eight species of sea turtles, of the 2009 season arrived at the beach of the Port of Altamira, since they prefer the coasts of Tamaulipas to lay their eggs.

As part of our protecting activities for this turtle, specialized personnel from the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Tx., together with the Port of Altamira, give all necessary cares to the nesting turtles, nests and hatchlings. This is all taken care of in the Turtle Camp located inside the Port’s territory, where over 210,000 hatchlings have been released so far.

The Kemp’s Ridley Turtle is the smallest of sea turtles and basically feeds from some kinds of crabs, shrimp, clams, sea urchins, jellyfish, fish and not so much vegetable. Their clutches are 100-120 eggs each which require approximately 45 days for incubation. 80% of the hatchlings make their way into the ocean and only 2-5 of each nest reach adult state.

It is expected that the 2009 season exceeds the 35,417 hatchlings released in 2008, and for that reason the Port of Altamira invites the port community to join the protection activities for this endangered species, immediately notifying the authorities if they see a nesting turtle. The nesting period ends in June, and the release of hatchlings starts in July.

This way, the Port of Altamira is part of an important movement to protect the environment that takes place in the State of Tamaulipas, promoting at the same time a culture of respect for these endangered species.

Source: Commercialization department