According to SeaWorld’s website, 90% of sea turtles nesting in the continental United States do so on Florida beaches. During the nesting season on Sanibel and Captiva Islands off Florida’s Gulf Coast, sea turtle eggs and hatchlings are prone to predators and storms. From May through October, hungry predators dig for eggs or snatch defenseless hatchlings. Nests are washed away or buried with an excessive amount of sand. Some eggs are not fertilized or do not hatch for other biological reasons. It’s all part of the circle of life but mankind always seems to mess with nature and often not in a good way.
The Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) was incorporated to preserve natural resources and wildlife habitats on the islands. As part of its sea turtle program, more than 100 local volunteers assist the SCCF with research and monitoring, according to SCCF’s website. Four of the turtles the program protects are listed as endangered: Leatherback, Hawksbill, Kemp’s Ridley, and Green. Although they have been observed, the Leatherback and Green sea turtles rarely nest on Sanibel and Captiva Islands. The Loggerhead sea turtle is listed as a threatened species and is the most common island nester.
Regarding the sea turtle population trend, the SCCF reports the number of nests on Sanibel and Captiva from 2002 to 2008 showed a downward trend. The number of nests increased in 2008, but that improvement was short-lived and has since been declining, with 2009 and 2010 being some of the worst years on record. Based on SCCF monitoring data for 2011, almost 4,400 eggs were laid in 277 nests on Sanibel Island. Only 187 eggs were recorded as hatched. That’s a meager 4% birth rate.
There are numerous ways we can protect sea turtles but the most obvious is to obey the Federal Endangered Species Act, the local marine protection ordinances, and other enforcement regulations. This includes the islands’ leash law, which says all dogs on the beach must be leashed and cannot be allowed to disturb nests or sea turtles. As noted on SCCF’s website, it is a federal crime to disturb sea turtle nests and nesting turtles. It is also against the law to possess sea turtle eggs, body parts, or the turtles themselves.
Many enforcement regulations address beachfront lighting. Artificial lighting from buildings, parking lots, and flashlights can discourage turtles from nesting. If females see lights on a beach, they may believe its daylight and not go ashore because they are nocturnal egg layers. Excessive beach noise also discourages females from coming ashore. Eggs are then laid in the sea where they perish. These “false crawls” were recorded 496 times in 2011 by the SCCF. Artificial lighting can also confuse sea turtles, which cause them to remain on land where they could dehydrate or become easy prey. If we observe laws and use common sense, we will no longer be the beach bullies that threaten the sea turtle population.
3 comments:
I found your blog to be very interesting. I never realized how endangered sea turtles are and how many obstacles they face just so they can successfully reproduce and live to adulthood. I also found it very interesting how you pointed out about how artificial beach lighting confuses nesting turtles. Do you know why the turtles get confused by the artificial light? Also would you know what the main predators of turtle eggs are? Overall I agree with what you said completely about how if people just used common sense this would lead to considerably less turtle deaths.
I also found this interesting. I have seen news and videos of turtles hatching and moving to the sea. They are so adorable! I know there are a lot of conservation efforts for them and a lot of research programs trying to maintain a healthy population. I believe, if you are interested, you can find many internships to help with these projects.
On another note, I never realized why there were leash laws. I guess I just assumed it was to maintain fecal control. However, it absolutely makes sense that they would be curious and dig up eggs. I am also very curious what are the main predators of sea turtles and if anything has been done to manage for them. I wonder what could be done to manage for the artificial light stemming from human use. I mean it would be ideal to mandate no human activity along the shoreline but I know that will never happen. Perhaps we can install some sort of evening drapes that can be raised like flags to block the lights from the ocean?
As much as we would like to say that it just takes common sense, there is the saying that it is just not so common. On top of that we have the whole money issue plaguing most of our endangered species. A lot of these species are being hurt due to our consumption of fish, retail and real estate industries, and other human greed. Unfortunately those battles are harder to win.
Thanks for your comments. Some turtle predators are raccoons, crabs (which surprised me), seabirds, fish, sharks, and whales. I've read that people have tried to fence off predators from the eggs but that it hasn't worked well. Turtles are nocturnal egg layers so when they see lights on the beach they think it's daytime and not a time to lay eggs. Of course the eggs have to be laid and they end up in the ocean. Sanibel Island has beach lighting laws which can be found on the web.
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