Baby Loggerhead turtle trying to make its way to it's new ocean home

 

If you would like to adopt a sea turtle go to www.marinelife.organd click on donate or callLoggerhead Marinelife Center of Juno Beach at 561-627-8280. 

FOR YOUR INTEREST CCC (Caribbean Conservation Corporation) is excited to announce Tour de Turtles, our first annual sea turtle marathon migration tracking event. Tour de Turtles is a fun and educational journey through the science, research and geography of sea turtle migration using satellite telemetry. This event follows the migration of eight sea turtles, representing four different species, from their nesting beaches to their foraging grounds. You can go to www.tourdeturtles.orgto adopt a turtle as well

 

DID YOU KNOW?

Florida is the second largest sea turtle nesting area in the world.  Oman in southwest Asia is the first.

Sea Turtle season starts March 1st and ends October 31.  During the summer months, beaches along Florida's coastal counties host 90% of the sea turtle nesting in the continental U.S.   Palm Beach County beaches provide critical nesting habitat for two species of endangered sea turtles, the green and leatherback sea turtles, and the threatened loggerhead sea turtle.  Palm Beach County has the highest number of leatherback nests and the second highest number of loggerhead and green nests in America.  Each summer approximately 14,000 nests are laid by are by sea turtles which covers 45 miles of Palm Beach County's coastline. It is important that the sea turtles have a safe environment not only to lay their eggs but also for the emerging hatchlings that will eventually make their way to their new ocean home.  Litter can impede their journey and can put the baby turtles at risk.

The life of a sea turtle can be rather challenging and we hope that you can help keep the neighborhood safe for nesting turtles and insure that newborn hatchlings get off to a good start!

NESTING SEA TURTLES 

Female sea turtles will emerge from the sea and dig a hole to lay their eggs. The task of excavating a nest may take her over an hour to accomplish. The turtle - weighing several hundred pounds - laboriously digs a nest cavity with her rear flippers. She then deposits approximately 100 pliable ping-pong ball sized eggs into the chamber, covers them with sand and returns to the sea. After roughly a two-month incubation period, a cluster of tiny hatchlings emerges from the sand and scrambles to the ocean water.The nesting season will then continue through the summer to early fall. Florida's beaches provide critical nesting grounds for threatened and endangered sea turtles . 

  

Baby Loggerhead Sea Turtle.  Picture by R.A. Halasz

Sea turtles usually will nest at night.  If you should come across an adult turtle on the beach, please DO NOT approach her.  Any movement can deter the female from nesting as well as noise or light, such as a flashlight.  Stay behind the turtle and out of sight so she may go about her business and lay her eggs.  For the sea turtles sake it is best to avoid walking the beach at night during sea turtle nesting season.  If you would like to see a sea turtle nesting you can attend one of the guided sea turtle walks that may be in your area such as Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, 561-338-1473 or Marinelife Center in Juno Beach 561-624-6952

 

 Baby Loggerhead heading for its new home in the sea.  Picture by R.A.Halasz

BEACH FRONT LIGHTING Coastal Residents need to do their part if they are to help our endangered turtles.  Beachfront lighting can cause a potential threat to nesting females as well as to hatchlings.  On beaches where artificial lighting is visible, nesting females are deterred from nesting and the hatchlings important journey to the sea is disrupted.

It is worth noting that a single light left on near the beach can be responsible for misdirecting and killing hundreds of hatchlings each season,

Here are a few useful tips to help the sea turtles during their nesting season.

• Turn off all non-essential beachfront lighting.
• Replace incandescent & florescent bulbs with red or amber LED bulbs.
• Reduce lighting visible from the beach by lowering shielding, recessing, and/or redirecting fixtures.
• Use draperies or blinds to reduce interior lighting.
• Be turtle friendly by removing chairs, toys, floats, and boats from the beach at night.
• Replace wooden cabanas with lighter alternatives.  Store lightweight beach furniture behind the primary dune.

For more information please contact Department of Environment Resources Management at (561) 233-2400 or go to www.co.pal-beach.fl.us/erm

  DO YOUR PART WHILE AT THE BEACH

• Avoid going to the beach to observe turtles at night without a jpermitted guide.
• Do not use flashlights on the beach at night in the summer.
• Place umbrellas only in the upper 12 inches of sand to avoid disturing buried clutches of eggs.
• Buile sand castles and dig holes below seaweed line.
• Please pick up litter on the beach and properly dispose of your trash.

 

QUICK FACTS ABOUT OUR SEA TURTLES

There are 5 species of sea turtles all of which are threatened or endgangered.  Here are some quick facts about the three main sea turtles that nest on the Florida coast.

LOGGERHEAD WEIGHT:  300-450 Pounds DIET: Crustaceans Jellyfish Seaweeds STATUS: Threatened NESTING SEASON: April-September GENERAL FACTS: Named for large head PBC records - 12,000 loggerhead nests per year

 

The Hawksbill and the Kemp's Ridley are the other 2 endangered sea turtles.  They are both rare to Florida beaches but no less important.

IMPORTANT CONTACTS

• Report Injured or Dead Sea Turtles also Violations, Harassment or Poaching to:  FWC  Law Enforcement  1-888-404-FWCC     
• For additional information, contact:  Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resource Management   561-233-2400 or www.co.palm-beach.fl.us/erm  

*Did you know it is a federal offense to possess or handle sea turtle eggs or hatchlings?*

  

Light Sticks May Inadvertently Lure Turtles To Fishing Lines

Science Daily — Thousands of loggerhead turtles die every year when they get tangled or hooked in commercial fishing long lines meant for tuna or swordfish.  New research suggests a possible reason why turtles swim into the lines. The glowing light sticks that lure fish to long lines also attract turtles, according to a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study.

The light sticks used in longline fisheries resemble the disposable plastic tubes popular with children on Halloween. The steady glow draws fish, which then find baited hooks and are caught on the lines. The lights also seem to fascinate turtles, however, which are equally likely to chomp on fish bait, or get snagged in the hooks and lines.

“Juvenile turtles are indiscriminant eaters and bite nearly everything small that they encounter,” said Ken Lohmann, UNC-Chapel Hill professor of biology and senior author of the study.  “Under natural conditions, most small objects floating or swimming through the sea are potential sources of food.  But nowadays, with fishing lines, plastic, and garbage in the ocean, biting everything is not such a great strategy.”

The new findings may help fisheries decrease the number of turtles caught on lines, the researchers said. Most long lines deploy their hooks below the depths where turtles usually swim, so shading the lights to direct illumination downward instead of upward might make the lights harder for turtles to see. Similarly, switching to colors that turtles can’t detect very well might also reduce turtle deaths.

All sea turtles are endangered species. A recent estimate published in the journal Ecology Letters suggests 200,000 loggerhead and 50,000 leatherback turtles may die each year in commercial fishery longlines. Total populations have declined in the past 20 years, Lohmann said.

While it’s difficult to separate the impact of longline fisheries from other threats turtles face, researchers say that the loss to longlines is significant because the turtles caught are often adolescents, which die before they have a chance to reproduce. Only about one in 5,000 turtles ever survive to adulthood. In the past, those lucky enough to last a few years in the ocean could expect a long life and would replenish the population. With the advent of longline fishing, the number of survivors has dwindled. “A lot of turtles that beat the odds and would otherwise have lived long lives are now being caught on longlines,” Lohmann said.

Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.