BROWNSVILLE – Boca Chica Beach and State Highway 4 is now open to the public.

Access to the area was restricted all week due to continued testing at the SpaceX launch site.

KRGV’s Daisy Martinez spoke with a field technician with Sea Turtle Inc. who says this closure impacted his job.

Luke Sundquist of Sea Turtle Inc. says right now it's unclear what long-term effect SpaceX could have on the sea turtle population.

"Kemp's Ridley sea turtles only nest in the Gulf of Mexico. So that means we have a special responsibility right here to protect them and make sure these beaches are there for them, otherwise they could go extinct,” explains Sundquist.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS reached out to SpaceX to find out why beach patrols weren’t granted access to watch over the federally-protected sea turtles – we are awaiting a response.

Watch the video above for the full story.