Sea turtle nest found in MS

PASS CHRISTIAN, Miss. - Hancock County Sand Beach crews found the first sea turtle nest on the Mississippi coast since 2018. One of the crews was cleaning up what appeared to be turtle tracks east of the Pass Christian Harbor, officials said. They protected the area and called the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, which tracked it to a nesting site that has been marked off. The eggs likely belong to a protected loggerhead sea turtle or a rare Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, one of the most critically endangered species, according to Moby Solangi, president of the marine studies group. The exact species won’t be known until the eggs hatch in 50 to 60 days. Turtles lay between 60 to 100 eggs in a nest and have multiple nests during a season, Solangi told The Sun Herald. The Mississippi Sound and Gulf of Mexico are important sea turtle habitats, but the 2010 oil spill and 2019 opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway in Louisiana hurt the turtle population. "(T) is a good sign." (Source: The AP 08/07/22)