KempsRidleySeaTurtle_TurtleReleases_Shaver_Donna_CorpusChristiTX_12October2021_Reel4072.mp3

Donna Shaver [00:00:00] We've held public releases of Kemp's ridley sea turtle hatchlings at the National Seashore since we began releasing hatchlings way back, you know, in 1978, and we continued it right on through after we stopped getting eggs from Mexico, and then we were bringing eggs in from the beach for protected care.

Donna Shaver [00:00:19] And every nest that we find, we bring it in for protected care because we don't want to lose those eggs to high tides, predators, beach driving, nuisance coastal flooding, root penetration, campfires, horses on the beach, tent stakes, all the things that can, can happen to a nest if the eggs were left on the beach. Poaching, poaching of hatchlings.

Donna Shaver [00:00:50] So we have invited the public to come out to our releases as a win-win. We release the hatchlings when they must be released, so there's no show and tell. There's no turtles on demand. People want to, "Oh, I want to see your release on such-and-such a date. Can you make that happen?" "And, no, I can't make it happen. The turtles hatch when they hatch, and you need to come when they are hatching and not, the schedule isn't set the other way round."

Donna Shaver [00:01:19] So, but nevertheless, in recent years, we've been able to hold 20 to 25 public releases of Kemp's ridley hatchlings on North Padre at the National Seashore. And they've been very well-attended, attended by about 15,000 people per year. And that's not everybody who comes to our area to go to these releases.

Donna Shaver [00:01:42] So this is a bucket list item. I've see grown men with tears in their eyes, little kids running to get in the front row, marriage proposals, dying wishes to come out and be in the front row and see a release, people that tell me it's their bucket list, people who tell me that for years they've tried to come over, people who tell me they plan their vacation around this.

Donna Shaver [00:02:10] They come from Canada, they come from Europe, come from all over the state. We had people that got in their cars in the middle of the night in Oklahoma, and drove down, because they were Native Americans, and they said, "The turtle is very symbolic to our culture and they wanted to see these turtles."

Donna Shaver [00:02:27] And all of that gives me inspiration. And it's, it's my adrenaline that keeps me going at a time when I don't get much sleep. I'm tired and things can get discouraging with vehicles that break down and other bureaucratic things that go wrong, criticisms we get because not everything goes perfectly. You know, it's field work, and it's tough work. And the gratitude and interest and support is phenomenal from these.

Donna Shaver [00:03:01] And it's an increasing source of eco-tourism. South Padre Island, they open up some of their releases to the public as well. During COVID times, we posted many of our releases on FaceTime Live and had, I think, seven, six or seven of them, that were on FaceTime Live, and we got nearly a million views and shares of that.

Donna Shaver [00:03:33] Unbelievable!