Texas sea turtles have lost a conservation hero (commentary)

Texas sea turtles have lost a conservation hero (commentary)

Carole Allen — founder of HEART (Help Endangered Animals Ridley Turtles) and the first director of the Turtle Island Restoration Network’s Gulf of Mexico office — passed away last week at the age of 90. For decades, she was the voice of the critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii), and one of the central figures responsible for bringing this species back from the brink of extinction. HEART began as an all-volunteer, g…