Sea Turtle Info

[Matt J]

Very cool, right down from our house. We'll have to go down for the hatching. That is really cool if you've never seen one.

 

[ASH]

Hoping to. We'll be there hanging out and watching.
The stretch my wife and I have has us keeping an eye on three nests so far.

 

[ASH]

And I hadda post another quick one to get me off that last number of posts of 666.

 

[ASH]

Nests #18 and #19 just happened as well. This year should easily have more nests than last year, that only had 20.

 

[tistheseason]

The Today Show - Sea Turle Segment

Tomorrow morning the Today show is going to have a segment on the Today show! Ironically, there is also suppose to be a segment about the dangers of digging on the beach. Two different segments -- just happening on the same day!

 

[Sally]

http://www.waltonsun.com/news/many_1687___article.html/realize_sunning.html

As we spend our days off sunning on the beaches, many of us do not realize that we are sharing the habitat of many creatures great and small. The beach is alive with crabs, shells, birds and something you might not notice with an untrained eye… sea turtle nests.
Each year from May through October there are four species of Florida sea turtles that nest locally in Walton County – Loggerhead, Green, Leatherback and Kemp’s ridley. All of them are either threatened or endangered.
Females nest every two to three years, laying several nests on sandy beaches. After digging a hole and depositing about 80–120 eggs, the females fill in the hole with sand and camouflage the nest before returning to the gulf.
With each season, the turtles face an uphill battle in their attempt to nest. With many obstacles such as human debris (chairs, tents, garbage) and holes dug in the sand, it is increasingly difficult for the turtles to reach a desirable nesting area. They often get confused when bumping into obstacles as they plow through the sand to reach beyond the high tide line.
The turtles have a bit of help from local advocate groups across the state. In Walton County, local turtle watch organization; South Walton Turtle Watch has more than 40 volunteers who comb the beach each morning looking for new turtle nests.
The volunteers locate nests, barricade and monitor until the hatchlings emerge. The volunteers work seven days a week from May through October.
If you would like to volunteer, contact Sharon Maxwell at (850) 897-5228. For more information about our local sea turtles visit: www.seaturtlewatch.com
It is illegal to harm, harass or kill any sea turtles, their eggs, or hatchlings. If you find hatchlings wandering in a road, parking lot, or in a direction other than toward the water, call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at (888) 404-FWCC or *FWC from your mobile phone.

Things you can
do to help
nesting turtles



Turn off the lights!

Keep beachfront lights off throughout the night from May to October as they can confuse sea turtles during the mating season. Suggested alternatives to decrease artificial lighting include use of motion sensors for safety, dark window tinting and curtains to cover inside light, and yellow incandescent light bulbs (bug lights). Studies have also shown that light from low pressure sodium vapor sources don’t attract turtles as much as high pressure sodium lights. Avoid fluorescent, mercury vapor, metal halide, and white incandescent lighting.

For information about low pressure sodium lighting contact Phoenix products at (414) 973-3300 or www.phoenixproducts.com
If you use a flashlight on the beach after dark, use a turtle safe sticker to diffuse the bright bulb light. For more information on how to get a sticker contact; Azalace Artworks (850) 855-9641 email: azalace@earthlink.com


If you see turtle hatchlings

Allow hatchings to crawl to the water on their own. Scientists believe the imprinting helps the hatchlings remember where they came from, so they can return and lay their own nests 20 to 30 years later.

Leave hatchling sea turtles in their nest; they will exit the nest when they are ready. If hatchlings are removed from the nest before they are ready, they are less likely to survive.


If you find a nesting turtle

Stay behind her at a distance so that she can not see you.

Keep your distance, remain quiet, and keep all lights off (flashlights, flash photography and video equipment). Noise and lights can cause the turtle to return to the Gulf without laying her eggs. Keep hands and other objects off and away from the turtle. After nesting, she may appear slow and hesitant. Touching, prodding, shining lights, or causing commotion may frighten her, disorient her, and cause her to spend less time covering and camouflaging her nest.

 

[Andy A]

Nests #34 and #35, if I remember correctly what the turtle walker told me, have been found at Bella Vita and yesterday at the foot of the walkover at White Cliffs.

 

[BlueMtnBeachVagrant]

"Confused sea turtles march into restaurant"

Turtle soup anyone?

" ROME (Reuters) - About 60 newly hatched sea turtles lost their way during their ritual passage to the sea and marched into an Italian restaurant instead, a conservation worker said on Monday.

The baby turtles -- which ended up under the tables of startled diners at the beachside restaurant -- were probably thrown off track and lured by the eatery's bright lights, said Antonio Colucci, who was called to help rescue the group.

"They saw the artificial lights and took the wrong route," said Colucci, who works on a turtle monitoring project for the conservation group WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature).".......
Click here for rest of story.

Seriously, bright lights are an issue in my book for more than just the turtle aspect (I like to see stars as well as turtles). Yet on the few occasions that I've walked the beach at night, I noticed the bright sodium vapor street lights on Blue Mountain Road pouring down on an otherwise dark situation. Do we really need all those street lights on Blue Mountain Road (as an example)?

It seems that Chelco and the turtle advocates should be working together to minimize or totally eliminate the street lighting on side streets near the beach. At a minimum, a can of black spray paint can do wonders for blocking southward bound light beams!

Just a reminder, in an effort to maintain thread consistency, turn off those "all night" outside lights during nesting season. Pulling your curtains / closing blinds wouldn't hurt either.

 

[CampCreekLou]

Stumbled across a turtle launching tonight, quite unexpectedly, on Seacrest Beach. What an awesome sight!

The first turtle out of the cooler made a straight bee-line to the beach and was the first in the water. The kids nick-named him 'Phelps'.

Thanks to the 'blue-gloved' people in charge for caring for these little guys! Nights like these remind us why we love SoWal.

 

[DD]

Stumbled across a turtle launching tonight, quite unexpectedly, on Seacrest Beach. What an awesome sight!

The first turtle out of the cooler made a straight bee-line to the beach and was the first in the water. The kids nick-named him 'Phelps'.

Thanks to the 'blue-gloved' people in charge for caring for these little guys! Nights like these remind us why we love SoWal.

I would so love to see this. Maybe someday.