Head-starting the Kemp's ridley sea turtle, Lepidochelys kempii, at the NMFS Galveston Laboratory, 1978-1992:: A review

We review the Kemp's ridley sea turtle head-start experiment at the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Galveston Laboratory which was part of an international effort to save this endangered species from 1978 through 1992. During the 15 years of this experiment 22,596 tagged yearling turtles were released into the Gulf of Mexico, of which 878 were recaptured either dead or alive. Through 2000, ten adult head-started Kemp's ridleys have returned and nested; nine at North Padre Island and Mustang Island, Texas (near where they had been experimentally imprinted) and one at the primary nesting beach on the east coast of Mexico near Rancho Nuevo.