Save the Sea Turtles of Padre Island National Seashore

The current superintendent of the park is a hatchet man who was sent here to destroy the program after damaging programs for the california conder, and the black footed ferret.
He turned back grant money, put a gag order on Dr. Shaver, who can only speak with permission and guidance, and has forbidden staff from applying for grant money from total programs. By cutting the public turtle releases back, he has taken attention away from the program and damaged the local economy.
This has been going on for years as he has bullied Doctor Shaver, and done everything he could to get her to resign. She won't leave because she knows she is standing in the way of the National Park Services plans to dismantle the endangered turtle program.

Inside the Herculean Effort to Study and Save the World's Smallest Sea Turtle After years of steady gains, a decades-long conservation program dedicated to the Kemp's ridley hits rough seas

Volunteers fired for speaking the truth. The director of Padre Island National Seashore was sent here to destroy the turtle program.

Nueces Co. Commissioner, volunteers speak out against PINS superintendent Commissioner Brent Chesney and some PINS volunteers are unhappy that the park was shut down during last week's cold snap, and that PINS staff did not assist in cold stunned sea turtle efforts.

Long past time for the Director of Padre Island National Seashore, Eric Brunneman to go! This letter is an indictment of Brunneman's actions during the latest cold stunning event when he closed the park and left turtles to die. The biggest cold stunning event, several years ago, he directed park staff to take no action on the turtles. Several days passed during which stranded turtles could not be helped. When he finally caved to pressure, it was too late to save thousands of turtles. They were bulldozed into a mass grave and not buried deep enough, so the coyotes came and dug them up. How damaging for staff to see turtles suffering and being ordered not to help.

Padre Island National Seashore management really dropped the ball during the freeze this week!!! Let’s all let them know that this is not acceptable!

The Regional Director for the Intermountain Region 6 is Kate Hammond

Kate Hammond, Regional Director
National Park Service
12795 West Alameda Parkway
Denver, CO 80225
303-969-2500

Seems like this should be sent to her!

A Kemp’s ridley sea turtle hatchling release is scheduled for Friday, July 19, 2024, at 6:45am on Malaquite Beach. Here are a few things to consider!

⚠️ IF THERE IS NO UPDATE TO THIS POST, THAT MEANS THAT THE HATCHLING RELEASE IS HAPPENING AS PLANNED. ⚠️

📞 Call the Hatchling Hotline at (361) 949-7163 before you drive out to the seashore to make sure the release is happening. The hotline is a recorded message you can call anytime day or night.

🌩️ Hatchling releases may be cancelled if the turtles have not hatched on the expected date, due to bad weather (ex. pouring rain, lightning on the beach, high winds), extreme high tides, or flooding over roadways, etc.

💲 Park entrance fees are required to enter the park year-round. To save time, purchase your entrance pass online BEFORE coming to the park.

🎟️ The $10 per vehicle one-day pass expires at midnight on the date of purchase. Do not purchase this pass the night before the hatchling release as it will be expired in the morning. Purchase your $10 per vehicle one-day pass the morning of the hatchling release only AFTER calling the calling the Hatchling Hotline to verify the release is happening.

🪪 Annual and lifetime pass holders do not need to pay the park entrance fee but must present their pass and ID at the entrance station.

🚗 Expect delays of up to 30-minutes entering the park. Hatchling releases take place on Malaquite Beach in front of the Malaquite Visitor Center. The visitor center is located 15-minutes south of the park entrance station. Once you arrive at the release site, you must park in a parking lot, walk across the visitor center deck (where the restrooms are located), down the ramp and out to the beach. Driving on Malaquite Beach to the hatchling release site is not permitted. If you have not been to the park before, take some time to look at a map of the park, and look over driving directions.

🐕‍🦺 Please leave your pets at home. Trained service animals, authorized under the ADA are allowed.

❓ For more information about how to prepare to attend a release, please visit go.nps.gov/HatchlingRelease

A Kemp’s ridley sea turtle hatchling release is scheduled for Sunday, July 14, 2024, at 6:45am on Malaquite Beach. Here are a few things to consider!

⚠️ IF THERE IS NO UPDATE TO THIS POST, THAT MEANS THAT THE HATCHLING RELEASE IS HAPPENING AS PLANNED. ⚠️

📞 Call the Hatchling Hotline at (361) 949-7163 before you drive out to the seashore to make sure the release is happening. The hotline is a recorded message you can call anytime day or night.

🌩️ Hatchling releases may be cancelled if the turtles have not hatched on the expected date, due to bad weather (ex. pouring rain, lightning on the beach, high winds), extreme high tides, or flooding over roadways, etc.

💲 Park entrance fees are required to enter the park year-round. To save time, purchase your entrance pass online BEFORE coming to the park.

🎟️ The $10 per vehicle one-day pass expires at midnight on the date of purchase. Do not purchase this pass the night before the hatchling release as it will be expired in the morning. Purchase your $10 per vehicle one-day pass the morning of the hatchling release only AFTER calling the calling the Hatchling Hotline to verify the release is happening.

🪪 Annual and lifetime pass holders do not need to pay the park entrance fee but must present their pass and ID at the entrance station.

🚗 Expect delays of up to 30-minutes entering the park. Hatchling releases take place on Malaquite Beach in front of the Malaquite Visitor Center. The visitor center is located 15-minutes south of the park entrance station. Once you arrive at the release site, you must park in a parking lot, walk across the visitor center deck (where the restrooms are located), down the ramp and out to the beach. Driving on Malaquite Beach to the hatchling release site is not permitted. If you have not been to the park before, take some time to look at a map of the park, and look over driving directions.

🐕‍🦺 Please leave your pets at home. Trained service animals, authorized under the ADA are allowed.

❓ For more information about how to prepare to attend a release, please visit go.nps.gov/HatchlingRelease

You should probably arrive by 6:00 at the latest! You will need to pay to get in, so if you have a pass be sure you bring it. When you get there, you will go straight to the beach and once they have the three areas set up for the turtle release, you can pick one of the three to watch the hatchlings. Don't wear white. The hatchlings go for the Sun and anything white. Call the hotline before you leave in the morning because if it's canceled, that's the only way to find out.

It's a sea turtle doubleheader!

A Kemp’s ridley sea turtle hatchling release is scheduled for Friday, June 28, 2024, and Saturday, June 29, 2024, at 6:45am on Malaquite Beach. Here are a few things to consider!

⚠️ IF THERE IS NO UPDATE TO THIS POST, THAT MEANS THAT THE HATCHLING RELEASE IS HAPPENING AS PLANNED. ⚠️

📞 Call the Hatchling Hotline at (361) 949-7163 before you drive out to the seashore to make sure the release is happening. The hotline is a recorded message you can call anytime day or night.

🌩️ Hatchling releases may be cancelled if the turtles have not hatched on the expected date, due to bad weather (ex. pouring rain, lightning on the beach, high winds), extreme high tides, or flooding over roadways, etc.

💲 Park entrance fees are required to enter the park year-round. To save time, purchase your entrance pass online BEFORE coming to the park.

🎟️ The $10 per vehicle one-day pass expires at midnight on the date of purchase. Do not purchase this pass the night before the hatchling release as it will be expired in the morning. Purchase your $10 per vehicle one-day pass the morning of the hatchling release only AFTER calling the calling the Hatchling Hotline to verify the release is happening.

🪪 Annual and lifetime pass holders do not need to pay the park entrance fee but must present their pass and ID at the entrance station.

🚗 Expect delays of up to 30-minutes entering the park. Hatchling releases take place on Malaquite Beach in front of the Malaquite Visitor Center. The visitor center is located 15-minutes south of the park entrance station. Once you arrive at the release site, you must park in a parking lot, walk across the visitor center deck (where the restrooms are located), down the ramp and out to the beach. Driving on Malaquite Beach to the hatchling release site is not permitted. If you have not been to the park before, take some time to look at a map of the park, and look over driving directions.

🐕‍🦺 Please leave your pets at home. Trained service animals, authorized under the ADA are allowed.

❓ For more information about how to prepare to attend a release, please visit go.nps.gov/HatchlingRelease

LAST release of the season. Better get in line before 6 AM. There will be long lines, while the park collects fees that don't help the turtle program - but do prevent people from seeing the release.

Last year one of the Rangers was heard to snicker, because a family drove all night from Dallas and missed the release while waiting in line, "Should have been here at 4 AM!

So sad that a popular program, that used to be held dozens of times each summer, is now used to turn people off the turtle program as people are deliberately held up in line.

A Kemp’s ridley sea turtle hatchling release is scheduled for Wednesday, July 26, 2023, at 6:45am on Malaquite Beach. Here are a few things to consider!

⚠️ IF THERE IS NO UPDATE TO THIS POST, THAT MEANS THAT THE HATCHLING RELEASE IS HAPPENING AS PLANNED. ⚠️

📞 Call the Hatchling Hotline at (361) 949-7163 before you drive out to the seashore to make sure the release is happening. The hotline is a recorded message you can call anytime day or night.

🌩️ Hatchling releases may be cancelled if the turtles have not hatched on the expected date, due to bad weather (ex. pouring rain, lightning on the beach, high winds), extreme high tides, or flooding over roadways, etc.

💲 Park entrance fees are required to enter the park year-round. To save time, purchase your entrance pass online BEFORE coming to the park.

🎟️ The $10 per vehicle one-day pass expires at midnight on the date of purchase. Do not purchase this pass the night before the hatchling release as it will be expired in the morning. Purchase your $10 per vehicle one-day pass the morning of the hatchling release only AFTER calling the calling the Hatchling Hotline to verify the release is happening.

🪪 Annual and lifetime pass holders do not need to pay the park entrance fee but must present their pass and ID at the entrance station.

🚗 Expect delays of up to 30-minutes entering the park. Hatchling releases take place on Malaquite Beach in front of the Malaquite Visitor Center. The visitor center is located 15-minutes south of the park entrance station. Once you arrive at the release site, you must park in a parking lot, walk across the visitor center deck (where the restrooms are located), down the ramp and out to the beach. Driving on Malaquite Beach to the hatchling release site is not permitted. If you have not been to the park before, take some time to look at a map of the park, and look over driving directions.

🐕‍🦺 Please leave your pets at home. Trained service animals, authorized under the ADA are allowed.

❓ For more information about how to prepare to attend a release, please visit go.nps.gov/HatchlingRelease