Gulf Islands National Seashore excavated the first Kemp's Ridley sea turtle nest in a unit of the National Park Service at dusk last Friday, at the Seashore's Fort Pickens area. The nest was located on the south side of Fort Pickens Road near the easternmost parking area.

"The excavation and relocation of a sea turtle nest to another site to be hatched and released is unprecedented for the National Park Service," said Acting Seashore Superintendent Nina Kelson. "It is especially significant as this is a Kemp's Ridley nest, the species which is the rarest of all the endangered sea turtles found along the Gulf coast."

 

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