Tips for Beachgoers to Help Protect
SEA TURTLES A by Julie Peterson
ccording to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida is the most important nesting area for loggerhead turtles in the world, hosting more than 40 percent of nests laid globally. But Florida hosts a whopping 90 percent of the sea turtle nests laid in the United States each season. In addition to loggerheads, leatherback and green sea turtles nest on the Space and Treasure Coast’s beaches and there will be tens of thousands of nests over the summer.
Sea turtles can live 40 to 60 years or much more, but they don’t reach sexual maturity for 20 to 35 years. Once sexual maturity is reached, many will nest on local beaches between March and October, with timing dependent on the species. Nesting adults do a bit of camouflage and disguise on their nests and construct them deep in the ground “The turtle uses her rear flippers to dig an egg chamber, so it is as deep as she can reach. Once the eggs are laid, she covers the nest, and returns to the ocean. The eggs will
not be further tended by her, so she has done her best to protect the hatchlings in how she dug the nest,” says Susan Skinner, Sea Turtle Preservation Society (STPS) Board Chair and Director of Communication. A nest may contain 100 eggs and take about 60 days to hatch. “Estimates vary, but it is said that only 1 in 1,000 hatchlings, or even 1 in 10,000 hatchlings, will survive to adulthood,” says Skinner. For this reason, it’s extremely important that humans don’t cause harm by disturbing or touching the nests, the adult nesting turtles or the hatchlings on the beach. Loggerheads account for the largest percentage of nests on our beaches when compared to the leatherback and green sea turtles. “We are seeing an increase in leatherbacks this year and are hopeful it is the beginning of an upward trend,” says Niki Desjardin, Director of Operations for Ecological Associates which monitors and protects nests on the Treasure Coast including Fort Pierce, the Hobe Sound Natural Wildlife Refuge, St. Lucie Inlet State Park and the southern half of Hutchinson Island. “Last season we recorded 2,225 green sea turtles and typically we see 1000 to 1500 leatherbacks across the Treasure Coast. In comparison, 23,000 loggerheads were recorded last year.” “Residents and visitors can help to make our area as turtle friendly as possible by remembering to keep beaches clean, flat
Florida hosts a whopping 90 percent of the sea turtle nests laid in the United States each season.
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