A First in Decades: Tiny Turtle Hatchlings Find Their Way to the Water

Off the coast of Louisiana, the United States, tiny and endangered sea turtle hatchlings have been observed for the first time in more than 75 years, proof that restoration projects are crucial to protect the wildlife on the small parcel of land.

“Louisiana was largely written off as a nesting spot for sea turtles decades ago, but this determination demonstrates why barrier island restoration is so important,” states Chip Kline, chairman of Louisiana’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

Chandeleur islands are uninhabited and double as an 80-kilometer-long remote barrier in the Gulf of Mexico, 120 kilometers east of New Orleans and 40 kilometers south of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Only accessible by boat or by plane, the islands are part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge – the country’s second oldest refuge established in 1904 – where camping is not allowed, and neither are motorized vehicles nor construction. Since May, some 50 Kemp ridley sea turtles – the world’s smallest – were observed crawling, making their way to the water. This proves that the Gulf of Mexico is in good health thanks to conservation projects namely the one proposed by the Regionwide Trustee Implementation Group to restore the area following the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill and tropical weather systems.