Here’s an official SPI Kemp’s Ridley recap (it’s official because I say so):

Our first nest was found on April 12th by one of our ATV patrollers. Shortly after the track siting was called in, Anthony, the sole male intern (poor soul), spotted tracks on Boca Chica.

Before these tracks were found, North Padre Island had contacted Jeff (the man in charge) and reported that three nests had been recovered that morning. The communication between North Padre Island (part of the National Seashore), South Padre Island and Rancho Nuevo is impressive. Kemp’s Ridleys nest in arribadas, meaning arrival. I’ll talk about this in another entry, but we consider any report from the other stations as a sign for extra vigilance.

There are about three ATV patrols a day. The first track hunter on duty heads out around 7:00am. The rest are to depart an hour and a half after the previous patroller. It is important to keep the timing between each ATV. This optimizes the patroller’s likelihood of finding a nesting mother. While we tell the public we’re looking for turtles, the most realistic sign of a nesting mother will be her tracks. Since Kemp's Ridleys generally nest on windy days their tracks can be blown away within 10 minutes, leaving nearly nothing for a patroller to identify. 

Packs, helmets and ATVs are prepped the previous day. 

My first ATV patrol. 32 miles in and loosing my mind.

While roving the isolated beaches we've seen some amazing views.
Unfortunately the copious amounts of trash on the beach really ruins it.
People can be so creative and beautiful yet 100% destructive without even
realizing it.
PICK UP YOU TRASH $#%^ers

Patrollin' ain't no joke

Nina taught us all - don't forget to reapply
the sunscream...

I told Nina these photos wouldn't see the light of cyberspace...I lied.

As of right now we have found 4 nests. Boca Chica has produced 2 and the northern part of SPI has done the same. The tracks that Anthony identified proved to be very difficult to follow to the nesting site. Dave and SPX (remember the recovery dog!) responded to the call, but Jefe headed out later to help find the nest. These nesting mothers can be pretty tricky!

More info to come. More photos too. It's difficult to capture everything when you're knee deep in different sandy tasks.