Turtle Island Restoration Network

06/18/2026

We are so excited to share another merchandise collaboration with our friends at FLOAT (For the Love Of All Things) and their wonderful team of artists! This new gear is a nod to the (yet-again) record breaking Kemp's ridley sea turtle nesting season along the Texas coast.

$8 from every piece of gear ordered supports our mission to protect our blue-green planet! Get yours at www.float.org/TIRN 💚

In 2025, 449 nests were counted and protected. As of June 18th, 2026, 612 nests have been counted and reported! The Kemp's ridley sea turtle, the smallest of the seven species, is considered "Critically Endangered" by the IUCN Red List. Although the Kemp's is not out of the woods for a rebounding population, this is hopeful news!

06/18/2026

! The Trump Admin. has backed off of plans to end the critical ocean monitoring program (Ocean Observatories Initiative or OOI). Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan bill to block this proposed (and dangerous!) removal of deep-sea monitoring instruments.

The OOI program is a network of more than 900 ocean sensors has contributed to over 500 scientific publications - providing real time data to inform fisheries management, ocean navigation, offshore energy development, weather forecasting, earthquake and tsunami hazard monitoring, national security, and ocean and climate modeling.

A data-collecting buoy off the Carolina coast. The National Science Foundation was planning to begin removing hundreds of ocean instruments that measure ocean data this month. Photo credit: Darlene Trew Crist/WHOI, via Associated Press.

Read more in the NYTimes here ➡️ https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/climate/trump-ocean-observatories-initiative.html

06/17/2026

06/16/2026

A swipe reveals the difference, your voice makes it real!

Happy ! Today, and this month, is a reminder that meaningful conservation progress happens when people refuse to stay silent. Every public comment, advocacy meeting, legal challenge, and supporter helps move us closer to thriving oceans and healthy coastal communities. Because the truth remains: the ocean is for wildlife, not oil spills. And while wildlife use their voices for protection, we can!

Every breath begins with a healthy ocean, and our future rises and falls with the ocean. Simply put: no blue ocean, no green future. As you explore this year’s World Oceans Month opportunities below, remember: your voice makes it real. Help protect what thrives beneath.

The future of our blue-green planet is in your hands… learn more about our impact this year and how you can be a part of an even bigger impact this summer and beyond!

www.seaturtles.org/ocean-month-2026 💙

06/16/2026

Happy ! Today, and this month, is a reminder that meaningful conservation progress happens when people refuse to stay silent. Every public comment, advocacy meeting, legal challenge, and supporter helps move us closer to thriving oceans and healthy coastal communities. Because the truth remains: the ocean is for wildlife, not oil spills. And while wildlife use their voices for protection, we can!

Every breath begins with a healthy ocean, and our future rises and falls with the ocean. Simply put: no blue ocean, no green future. As you explore this year’s World Oceans Month opportunities below, remember: your voice makes it real. Help protect what thrives beneath.

The future of our blue-green planet is in your hands… learn more about our impact this year and how you can be a part of an even bigger impact this summer and beyond!

www.seaturtles.org/ocean-month-2026 💙

06/16/2026

Perhaps our most favorite species to highlight for , honoring the Kemp's Ridley sea turtle! This species is considered "Critically Endangered" by the IUCN Red List, their population trend is "Unknown", despite protections under the ESA.

Size: 2 feet (0.6 m)
Weight: 75-100 pounds (35 - 45 kg)
Diet: Crabs, fish, jellies, shrimp, Mollusks

🐢 Kemp’s ridleys are the only species that nests primarily during the day. They also nest in mass similar to their relative the olive ridley. They are named after Richard Kemp, a fisherman from Key West, Florida, who helped discover the species.

🐢 Kemp’s ridleys reach sexual maturity between 10-15 years of age which is significantly younger than most of the other species. Until recently, the endangered Kemp’s ridley turtle was on the brink of extinction in the 1960's. Thanks to strict laws which protected their nesting beaches in Mexico and reduced accidental capture in fishing gear, the species has begun a slow, but steady comeback from a previous low of only 200 nesting individuals in the 1980’s, to an estimated 7,000 - 9,000 individuals today.

🐢 The primary nesting grounds in Mexico are at Rancho Nuevo, in the state of Tamaulipas, and in Texas along the Padre Island National Seashore. A small number have also nested further north along the Texas coast. However, 95% of all nesting occurs in Mexico in the state of Tamaulipas. They’ll nest 2-3 times per season and lay about 100 eggs per nest. Eggs incubate for roughly 2 months before hatching.

🐢 In the US, these turtles are found in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic coast as far north as Nova Scotia. They are also found along coastal Europe within the North Atlantic Ocean.

🐢 Their population today is a fraction of the population recorded in the 1940’s. The demise of the population is attributed to human interactions, including the hunting for their meat and eggs. Entanglement in fishing gear also poses an enormous threat for this species. Bottom trawling, longline, and gill net fisheries are all responsible for a large number of deaths every year.

Photo credit: Angela Piazza, art by Dawn Witherington.

06/16/2026

For , let's celebrate the Olive Ridley sea turtle! This species is considered "Vulnerable" by the IUCN Red List, their population trend is "Decreasing". On the Pacific Coast of Mexico, breeding populations are listed as "Endangered" and all other populations are "Threatened".

Size: 2-2.5 feet (~0.6 meters)
Weight: 75-100 pounds (34-45 kg)
Diet: Crabs, shrimp, lobster, urchins, jellies, algae, fish

🐢 Olive ridleys nest in arribadas (large groups of sea turtles nesting at the same time) and though arribadas are not well understood, the timing is thought to coincide with weather events such as strong winds or cloudy days, or with moon and tide cycles.

🐢 Olive ridleys are primarily pelagic, spending much of their life in the open ocean, but may also inhabit continental shelf areas and venture into bays and estuaries.

🐢 Adults reach sexual maturity around the age of 15 years.

🐢 Like the Kemp’s ridley, they nest 'in mass’ referred to as arribadas. During arribadas, thousands of females may nest over the course of a few days to a few weeks. They’ll nest 1-3 times per season and lay about 100 eggs per nest. Eggs incubate for roughly 2 months before hatching.

🐢 Olive ridleys occur globally and are found mainly in tropical regions of the Pacific, Indian, and Southern Atlantic Oceans. Arribadas occur in Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Australia, parts of Africa, and a few beaches along the coast of India. The largest ones occur in Costa Rica, Mexico, and India. Other solitary nesting areas include Guatemala, Brazil, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Pakistan. Worldwide, they nest in approximately 40 countries.

🐢 Threats to olive ridleys include the direct harvest of turtles and eggs for human consumption, entanglement of turtles in commercial fishing gear, and coastal development.

Photo credit: NOAA Fisheries, art by Dawn Witherington.

06/16/2026

Meet the Flatback sea turtle this ! This species is considered "Data Deficient" by the IUCN Red List, although their population trend is "Unspecified", the Australian government has listed Flatbacks as "Vulnerable".

Size: ~3.0 feet (0.9 meters)
Weight: 200 pounds (90 kg)
Diet: Jellyfish, sea cucumbers, soft corals

🐢 Flatbacks are preyed upon by Saltwater crocodiles, the largest reptile on earth. Adult females have been observed being attacked by crocs while attempting to nest.

🐢 The flatback does not have an oceanic phase or undertake long, open ocean migrations like other sea turtles, and are usually found in waters less than 200 feet in depth, in soft-bottomed habitats.

🐢 Despite its small range and non-migratory behavior, until now this has been the least studied of the sea turtle species, perhaps due in part to the remoteness of much of their habitat.

🐢 Breeding and nesting occur in Australia only with the largest concentration of females nesting on Crab Island in the NE Gulf of Carpentaria in Queensland. Nesting beaches are primarily distributed from East to West across Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Western Australia. They’ll nest 4 times per season and lay about 50 eggs per nest. Eggs incubate for roughly 2 months before hatching.

🐢 The flatback has the smallest geographic range of the seven sea turtle species. Their distribution is restricted to tropical regions of the continental shelf and coastal waters of Northern Australia, the Indonesian archipelago, and the Papua New Guinea coast.

🐢 Threats to this species include direct harvest for meat and eggs, entanglement in fishing gear, destruction of nesting beaches from coastal development, pollution, and destruction of feeding habitat (coral reefs and shallow nearshore areas). Dingos and foxes once posed a significant threat to their nests but thanks to predator control programs, this threat has been greatly reduced. Nests and hatchlings however are preyed upon by the Sand Monitor lizard, birds-including Night Herons and Pelicans, and feral pigs. In some areas, feral pigs consume almost all of their nests.

Photo credit: Calen Offield, art by Dawn Witherington

06/16/2026

06/12/2026

Perfect timing to highlight the sea turtle for , as the species' first nest of the season was located along the Texas coast yesterday! Considered "Vulnerable" by the IUCN Red List, their population trend is "Decreasing". Nine population segments all listed as Threatened or Endangered.

Size: ~4.0 feet (1.2 meters)
Weight: 200-400 pounds (90-180 kg)
Diet: Hard-shelled prey such as crabs, conchs, whelks

🐢 Loggerheads carry many organisms on their carapace (shell), like barnacles and crabs. Scientists have identified between 50-100 species of plant and invertebrate animals hitching a ride (epibionts).

🐢 Loggerheads are found in temperate and tropical regions of the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. They are one of the most abundant of the species found in the US. There, most of their nests are laid in Florida. From, 1998-2007 nests in Florida had declined by 40%. Since then conservation efforts have tempered and a steady increase in nests have been noted from 2008-2022.

🐢 Females reach sexual maturity around 35 years of age and are estimated to live 80 years or more. The first 7 to 15 years of a loggerheads life is spent out in the open ocean. They head closer to shore to forage before eventually migrating to their nesting beaches.

🐢 Loggerheads will nest 3-5 times per season and lay about 100 eggs per nest. Eggs incubate for roughly 2 months before hatching.

🐢 Loggerheads are found in every ocean around the world. Only leatherbacks have a wider distribution. The largest concentration of nesting occurs on Masirah Island off the coast of Oman in the Middle East. In the Pacific, their main nesting grounds include Japan and Australia. In the Atlantic, the main concentration occurs in Florida. They are the most common species in the Mediterranean, nesting on beaches in Greece, Turkey, and Israel.

🐢 Their biggest threat is entanglement in fishing gear. In the US trawl fishery, devices called TED’s are required by law, allowing sea turtles to escape out of the nets, however in other parts of the world these devices are not regulated and they continue to be caught.

Photo by Hendrik Sauvignet (Ocean-OBS), art by Dawn Witherington.