It’s sea turtle nesting season along the coast of Florida. There are 7 species of sea turtles, 5 of which can be found nesting in Florida. These include the Loggerhead, Green, Hawksbill, Kemp’s Ridley and Leatherback. Sadly, all sea turtles are threatened or endangered. According to The National Wildlife Federation, “They face an uncertain future due to threats of many kinds, including pollution and the encroachment of coastal development on their nesting beaches. They are also susceptible to accidental drowning in fishing gear and are at risk from the international trade in turtle meat and shell products.”
The Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) is the most common sea turtle in U. S. coastal waters. In fact, the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, 20 miles of coastline from Melbourne Beach to Wabasso Beach, along the northeast coast of Florida is one of the two most important places in the world for loggerhead nesting. The other is Masirah Island at the Sultanate of Oman. Many organizations, including the Sea Turtle Conservancy, Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch, Florida Fish and Wildlife Services, National Marine Fisheries Services, and others, are actively working to preserve and protect the world’s sea turtles.
The Sea Turtle Conservancy hosts an annual event called Tour de Turtles. This event is designed to increase awareness and gain financial support.
Satellite telemetry is used to follow a group of sea turtles from their nesting beaches to their foraging grounds. Since only female turtles come ashore for nesting most of the Tour de Turtles participants are female. I had the opportunity to witness two female loggerhead turtles at a Live Release event on Melbourne Beach. Philanthropy Phyllis (Phyllis) is sponsored by the Community Foundation for Brevard. Lulu (shown in the photo below) is sponsored by, honu, a UK-based jewelry company with “a mission to help save one of the Earth’s oldest inhabitants from extinction by creating pretty, ocean inspired jewellery and accessories”.
Phyllis and Lulu were selected after nesting at a nearby location and detained for a few hours. During this time, the turtles were outfitted with a satellite transmitter.
The race begins when the newly-wired turtles are released back to the ocean. Here the gate is being opened to release Phyllis.
This is Phyllis making her way back to the ocean. She headed straight to the water’s edge and moved surprisingly fast.
Here’s Lulu crawling across the beach to the water. She also made a speedy exit.
These turtles are tracked for about 3 months. The turtle who swims the furthest distance during the migration marathon is declared the Tour de Turtles winner. Live turtle releases, involving various species, are hosted in a series of locations. In addition to the Melbourne Beach, Florida Live Release which I attended, turtles will be/have been released from 7 other locations: Tortuguero, Costa Rica; Vero Beach, Florida; Florida Keyes, Florida; Nevis, West Indies; Guanahacabibes National Park, Cuba; Anna Maria Island, Florida; and Soropta Beach, Panama.
It was an amazing experience watching these creatures crawl across the sand and glide into the ocean.
The Tour de Turtles website has a cool tracking feature where you can watch the turtles’ progress. Check out Phyllis’ progress here. She seems to be taking the long way home. Here is the link to Lulu’s marathon migration map. She seems to be taking a more direct route.
Sea turtles as I’ve learned have a unique life cycle. Here’s the explanation from The National Wildlife Federation (NWF): “Mating occurs roughly every two to three years in shallow waters. In summer, an ancient reproductive ritual begins when the female leaves the sea and crawls ashore to dig a nest in the sand. She uses her rear flippers to dig the nest hole, then deposits 80 to 150 eggs that look a lot like Ping-Pong balls. When egg-laying is complete, the turtle covers the eggs, camouflages the nest site, and returns to the ocean. Nesting turtles may come to shore several times in a nesting season to repeat the process.” Interestingly, the mother turtle never sees her young. She simply deposits the eggs and moves on.
Amelia Island does not have the nesting density of south Florida beaches and does not conduct turtle walks to look for and observe sea turtles nesting. However, the Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch organization does have a strong force of volunteers who monitor sea turtle nesting activity, gather statistical data and address sea turtle emergency situations. The volunteers survey the beach at daybreak each morning looking for signs that a turtle came ashore during the night. Nests are taped off and posted.
The volunteers also conduct excavations of sea turtle nests to gather data for assessing nesting success. The excavations, which are open to the public, are a great opportunity to learn more about sea turtles. I attended an early morning excavation on North Beach on beautiful Amelia Island.
The excavation was hosted by Len Kreger (Thank you, Len!). He explained the loggerhead turtle nest he would excavate had emerged at least 72 hours earlier meaning the hatchlings had already crawled out and entered the ocean. Here is Len digging out the nest.
Continuing with the NWF explanation of the turtle life cycle: “After incubating for about two months, the eggs begin to hatch. Hatchlings range from 1.5 to 3 inches (3.8 to 7.6 centimeters) in size, depending on the species, and emerge from the nest as a group. This usually occurs at night, and the hatchlings use the bright, open view of the night sky over the water to find their way to the sea. After their first frantic crawl from the nest to the ocean, male sea turtles never return to the shore again, and females come back only long enough to lay eggs.”
The purpose of excavating a turtle nest is simply to inventory the remaining nest contents: unhatched eggs, shards (empty egg shells), dead hatchlings and, sometimes, live hatchlings. Len stressed the nest had emerged 3 days prior and we should hope not to find any live hatchlings. Live hatchlings at this stage would have a lower than normal chance of survival. That’s significant given that typically only 1 in a 1000 hatchlings survive to maturity. The below photo shows some of the nest remains including 2 unhatched eggs (top left), several shards and a few dead hatchlings.
But the biggest surprise was live hatchlings… 18 in total. Here are the first 2 hatchlings recovered.
Len gathered them in a bucket and then released them at the water’s edge.
Despite knowing the hatchlings had little chance of survival, it was thrilling to see them up close and in person and then to witness their eager rush into the sea.
I would be remiss if I didn’t pass on these reminders. Please abide by the following rules if you’re in a sea turtle zone during nesting season.
- Keep Dark Minimize beachside lighting. Close drapes in oceanfront rooms at night. Do not use white flashlights (including smart phone flashlights) or flash cameras at night.
- Stay Clear Do not disturb nests, eggs, markers, signs or tracks. Do not approach, touch, or get in front of adult or baby turtles.
- Remove Obstacles Take your trash with you when you leave the beach. Do not dig holes on the beach without filling them in before leaving. This includes knocking down and filling in sandcastles. Remove beach furniture (beach chairs, umbrellas, canopies, etc) at the end of the day.
- Control Pets Keep dogs on a leash, and away from turtle nests, at all times.
More Info
There are numerous online reference sites regarding sea turtles. I found the following helpful:
The National Wildlife Federation – Sea Turtles
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Sea Turtles
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge
Sea Turtle Conservancy
You can learn more about the Tour de Turtles annual event hosted by the Sea Turtle Conservancy on the Tour de Turtles website.
The Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch website provides information about their nest excavations.
Today’s Takeaways
1. There’s nothing like seeing a wild creature in its natural habitat.
2. Strive to learn all you can about a creature that interests you.
3. Consider actions you can take, both large and small, to preserve and protect wildlife.
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