Nearly 100 endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtle hatchlings have been released on a South Texas beach to make their way into the Gulf of Mexico.
Monday's release at Padre Island National Seashore was the first of the season.
Several hundred observers watched the 98 hatchlings head for the water.
Experts say 96 Kemp's ridley sea turtle nests have been found on the Texas coast this year, with 61 at Padre Island National Seashore near Corpus Christi.
Volunteers have helped locate nests as experts transfer the eggs to a hatcher on Padre Island National Seashore.
Donna Shaver with the National Park Service, who's chief of the division of sea turtle science and recovery, says the next turtle hatchlings release in Texas should be in late June or early July.
