The season's first nesting Kemp's ridley turtle has come ashore.

As if in celebration of the Town of South Padre Island's 35th anniversary, a Kemp ridley sea turtle this weekend. The Kemp's ridley turtuls have come to the beaches of South Padre Island for thousands of years to lay their eggs in the warm sand. 

She was found by Sea Turtle, Inc. volunteer patroller, John Tierney, a South Padre Island resident. The female deposited 104 eggs before returning to the Gulf of Mexico. This is the first recorded nest for Texas in 2008. The estimated hatch date for this nest is June 6th.

This first nesting begins South Padre Island's "Turtle Days" for 2008, celebrating the sea turtles native to the south Texas coast.

"Turtle Days" officially begins with the first nest of the season and ends when the last hatchlings are released into the South Padre Island surf.