It seems like only yesterday, instead of 2 months ago, that I visited this national seashore southwest of my home. I drive the 3 hours back down there last week (June 6-10) on assignment with the National Parks Traveler to photograph at least one public release of the endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle. It was a wonderful experience and I’ve written a couple of articles about this trip that will be published on the Traveler’s site. I’ll let you know when that happens.
In the meantime, here’s a sampling of what I saw and experienced at Padre Island National Seashore in the early summer.
A full moon, starry sky and sandy beach at Padre Island National Seashore.
Taking in the vast view.
Looking northeast along the beach, just before sunrise.
Looking southeast. That barricade you see on the upper far right is the divider between the pedestrian-only portion of the seashore (where I was standing) and the pedestrian/vehicle portion of the seashore, which is basically the rest of the national seashore, all 60 miles of it.
Sunrise
En route to the Gulf of Mexico
A Kemp’s ridley sea turtle hatchling “swimming” across the sandy beach to get to the water of the Gulf of Mexico. These little guys are smaller than a GoPro action cam.
Standing atop a dune on this morning, overlooking a hatchling release. There were about 400 people at the public hatchling release, that day. The next day after this, there were 860 attendees (weekends are usually more-attended).
Another sunny day at Padre Island National Seashore
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