News

By Cheryl Blackerby

    Coastal residents can be proud they had something to do with increasing turtle nest numbers this year.
    “Most experts agree that conservation efforts and full-cutoff lighting on the coast are probably the main reasons for the success of turtle nesting in the state,” said Dr. Kirt Rusenko, marine conservationist at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton.
    “The lighting ordinance a generation ago — a generation for a loggerhead is 20 to 30 years — really helped,” he said.
    Loggerhead turtles particularly have been a source of concern for wildlife researchers, but this year the turtles made a nice recovery.
    “We’ve been worried about loggerheads since 2010, but they seem to be returning. That is making us quite happy,” Rusenko said. In 2010, Boca Raton’s loggerhead nests totaled 577, and this year the total was 856.
    Green turtles are a huge success, increasing from 27 nests in 1987 to 331 last year, and 75 this year in Boca Raton. Statewide the numbers are even better.
    “The 2013 green turtle nest numbers were huge. They were lower in 2014, but that was expected because the turtles generally come back on two-year schedules,” said Dr. Simona Ceriani, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission research scientist.
    Statewide in 2014, loggerhead turtle nests numbers remained high and leatherback turtle nests reached a new record in the state, according to Ceriani.
    Florida is extremely important in the quest to keep sea turtle nests numbers high, she said.
    “It’s up to Florida to be the steward for these species. Protecting nesting habitat is the best thing we can do, to give them a safe, dark place to nest. That’s something  we do have control over, and something we have to strive for. We have to share the beaches with them so they will have a good recovery,” she said.
    The state statistics in November were from 26 core index beaches, including Boca Raton, that monitored the beaches according to specific boundaries and protocols. The total turtle nest census for all beaches in Florida will be announced in January.
    Green turtle nesting trends show an exponential increase over the last 26 years, she said. Green turtle nest counts set two consecutive high records in 2011 and 2013 in the state.
    In Boca Raton, green turtle numbers have been going up double-digit percentages, said Rusenko, good news considering they were extinct in Florida in the early 1970s.
    The Endangered Species Act of 1973 allowed the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service to designate specific areas as protected “critical habitat” zones. The Florida Endangered Species Act further protected turtle nests.
    “All the green turtle canneries in Florida went out of business,” Rusenko said.
    There was also good news for leatherbacks. “This year was a great year in the state for leatherbacks, and especially in northern Palm Beach County,” he said.
    Although the numbers are up, turtle experts say there is more to do, particularly about “sky glow,” the light projected into the sky by coastal cities on the west side of the Intracoastal Waterway. Hatchlings walk toward the glow from the west that shines between condo high-rises on the beach, and they are subsequently crushed on A1A or they die in the sun. Nature dictates they should walk toward the ocean guided by reflected star and moonlight.
    “Boca’s City Hall, police station and library have full-cutoff light fixtures that direct light on the ground instead of into the sky, but there’s a lot more work to be done,” said Rusenko.
    Statewide, researchers are optimistic about the turtle nest numbers, as new protection strategies are implemented.
    “The U.S. is trying to cut down on challenges in fishing, such as the size and shape of hooks so they won’t be killed. A ‘turtle excluder device,’ used primarily in shrimping, is helping but we can’t quantify it yet,” she said.
    “Sea turtles face many important threats at sea and on land, which need to be addressed for the recovery of these charismatic and endangered species, but the results of the 2014 nesting season in Florida are encouraging and provide a positive outlook for the future,” said Ceriani.