journalism
   
   
In my job as editor of the Island Breeze, I had the opportunity to cover interesting stories and present topics of importance to the readers.
The images below represent several of the cover stories of the past year.
Adopt-A-Nest program begins at Sea Turtle Inc.

By SHARON CAMPBELL
Island Breeze
South Padre Island beaches are becoming a booming nursery for nesting turtles this season. Since the first nest was found on April 12, and as of press time there have been 13 nests total found in the area, including 2 nests found on Boca Chica beach.
The egg count is already over half the number of those found in all of last year and it is only 3 weeks into nesting season, known on the island as “Turtle Days”.
If the trend continues, it looks like we will be having a bumper crop of turtle hatchlings this summer. Usually, nesting season lasts thru June but could go a bit longer if there are stragglers who arrive late. Last year an Atlantic Green nested in late summer.
There is a new turtle nest adoption program being launched by Sea Turtle Inc. called Adopt-A-Nest. Anyone wishing to adopt a nest should call Sea Turtle, Inc. at 761-4511 to get their name on the Nest Adoption List.  Then when a nest is found, the person at the top of the list will be called and told that a nest has been found and there are (blank) number of eggs.  Adoption for a nest is $1.00 per egg found in the nest, so a nest having 83 eggs would be adopted for $83.00. A nest with 107 eggs would go for $107.00 and so on. 
 When the nest hatches, the adoptive organization, business or individual will be called and alerted to the release at which time they can come out and watch their tiny little babies scamper back into the Gulf not to return for 7 to 10 years. 
They could also choose to adopt each hatchling at that time for an additional $1.00 per hatchling that makes it out and swims away. 
All proceeds go directly to Sea Turtle Inc. and are tax deductible.  The adopting organization, business or individual will get their names recorded into the Sea Turtle Inc. permanent records and be listed on our Sea Turtle Inc. web site. www.seaturtleinc.com.
To go along with this effort, a fourth-grade science teacher from McKinney, Texas, has started her own turtle nest adoption for her classes.
The students trade store-bought eggs for donations to aid the sea turtle center. The class raised $1,200 just before the start of nesting season, and some are hoping to attend a release this summer.
Turtles are making their way onshore to lay eggs

By SHARON CAMPBELL
Island Breeze
Sea Turtle, Inc. and their turtle patrol volunteers have been busy lately with many Kempís ridley turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs in the warm sand of the South Padre dunes.
Tom Wilson, an intern with Sea Turtle, Inc. was the first one to the nest on Saturday morning after the call came in from the volunteer patrol family who found the nesting turtle. She was seen laying her eggs just north of the parking area of county Beach Access 4.
The turtle was found by the Horney family of McAllen. Keith and Melissa Horney and their two sons, Keith Jr. age 10, and Chandler age 9. The family had arrived at the beach early this morning, but didnít think it was going to be a good day for finding turtles.
ìThe wind was blowing and people on the beach. Clean-up people were everywhereî, Horney said. ìWe walked over this little dune and there she was, digging the nest.î
The family had gone through the turtle watch training class at Sea Turtle, Inc. and knew just what to do. Volunteers are given a special ëhot lineí number to call when a nest is found, and thatís when Tom the intern was sent out to investigate the sighting.
The interns are hardworking college students usually with a marine biology interest who come to the island during nesting season and work closely with Sea Turtle, Inc in measuring and getting statistics from each turtle and her nest. GPS readings are also taken so the nest can be charted for release when the time comes for the eggs to hatch.
Soon after the nest finding is confirmed, Jody Mays arrived with an insulated cooler to transport the fragile eggs. Sand from the nest is carefully removed and a layer is 		added to the bottom of the cooler and between each layer of eggs. Each egg is then removed and placed in the cooler in the same position as found. If an egg is turned over, it likely will not mature and hatch.
Nesting season has started off early this year as the first nest was found on April 12 and contained 104 ping pong ball sized eggs. The second nest, found early in the morning on Friday April 24, contained 93 eggs, and that just to start off the busy day.
A third nest containing 91 turtle eggs were found on Boca Chica beach, then a fourth nest with 107. Late in the afternoon a fifth nest was found containing 80 eggs back on South Padre.
Nests are being called in at a particularly quick rate with others being found Saturday afternoon on South Padre. The morning nest contained 89 eggs, another nest near the Mansfield cut contained 94 and another nest on Boca Chica contained 87 turtle eggs.

Occasionally tracks will be seen or even a turtle sighted, but no nest can be found. This is called a ëfalse crawlí and the female will come back ashore at a later time to lay her eggs.There has been one report of a false crawl this season.
After the eggs are removed from the nest, they are taken to a special protected corral in the dunes of Isla Blanca Park, where they are reburied in the sand, top side up, to wait in the natural conditions until they are ready to hatch. The eggs usually hatch approximately 54 days from when they were laid.
The anticipated first hatchling release is around June 5-8. Announcements of the event will be released when a more exact date is determined. Online video at spislandbreeze.com.