Turtle nesting numbers produce both good and bad news

Loggerhead population declines but other species on the rise

Rachel Hatzipanagos, South Florida Sun-Sentinel 19 Apr 08;

HIGHLAND BEACH - The turtle tracks in the sand looked funny. Not like the comma-shaped fin prints volunteer Beverly Knight usually sees. These were pointed.

"We thought they looked strange," Knight said. "We joked that maybe the turtles were wearing pointed high-heeled shoes."

Turns out the prints in Highland Beach belonged to the critically endangered hawksbill species. The finding indicated the only hawksbill nest in Florida for the 2007 nesting season, which starts in March each year.

Findings like this encourage volunteers, but as far as the overview for sea turtles goes, there's both good news and bad news. Loggerheads, the most common species in the state, are declining statewide, while populations of green and leatherback species are on the rise.

"It's a very complicated thing, what affects those populations," said Anne Meylan, research administrator for the state Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.

First, the bad news.

Last year, Broward County's loggerhead nests were down 40 percent from 2,674 in 2000, according to data released earlier this week by the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. In the same time frame, Palm Beach County reported a 25 percent decline.

While loggerheads are currently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced last month it would monitor loggerheads' status and may reclassify the species as endangered.

Scientists don't know what the dramatic declines in loggerhead populations mean for all turtles, but environmental organizations nationwide seek answers.

Current population trends could be ripple effects of less stringent environmental standards in the past, Meylan said. Especially since turtles can live up to 80 years.

Researchers know pollution threatens turtles from the start of their long lives.

Turtles sometimes eat floating plastic bags, mistaking them for jellyfish. Other times, they ingest pesticides, leaving them with deformities. In one case, the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton reported that one turtle brought into the center in August came in with two heads. The turtle died shortly after it was born.

If they do make it to shore, sea walls can block them from nesting ground. On their way home, hatchlings can get disoriented by beachfront lighting that they mistake for the moonlight.

But there is good news.

In Broward County, municipalities have started developing lighting ordinances since the county passed an amendment in 1998.

When the amendment became law in 2000, it gave municipalities until 2002 to develop ordinances, said Lou Fisher, marine biologist for Broward. Since then, just two cities, Hollywood and Dania Beach, have not adopted rules.

Hollywood officials are drafting a law, and employees plan to present a final version to the commission by the end of this summer, said city spokeswoman Raelin Storey.

"We've been looking at it for a while," Storey said. "It's an ongoing issue of importance."

Lighting requirements led manufacturers to develop turtle-friendly bulbs that don't shine light on the beach. Chris Murphy, president of Orlando-based Turtle Safe Lighting, converted his previous lighting company into a turtle-focused business about four years ago.

"We saw a need that wasn't being filled, which was for better, less disruptive lighting in coastal areas," Murphy said. "Most people want to do the right thing, so business has been very good."

Laws such as the lighting ordinances are vital in turtle conservation efforts, especially for the hawksbill, which is considered critically endangered.

Eighty percent of the hawksbill turtle population has declined over its past three generations, making them protected by conservation laws for endangered species. Hawksbills were once targets for poachers who used their shells in tortoiseshell jewelry. Nowadays, jewelry marketed as "tortoiseshell" is actually just plastic, Meylan said.

The Highland Beach hawksbill finding marks just 39 documented nests in the past 28 years. This year, in Highland Beach, volunteers don't know what to expect during their regular 6 a.m. trips to the beach.

"A lot of times you don't want to go," Knight said. "But you go because if you don't, no one else will."

Loggerhead turtle nests lag, green and leatherbacks are up
Associated Press 20 Apr 08;

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Florida's beaches lost a substantial amount of loggerhead sea turtle nests in 2007, giving the state its lowest nest count in 17 years, wildlife officials reported.

Researchers found 45,084 nests for the threatened turtles, down more than 4,600 nests from 2006, according to newly released statistics from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Florida accounts for 90 percent of the nation's loggerhead nests, which have decreased by nearly half since 1998, when the state reported 85,988 nests.

Loggerhead sea turtle deaths in Florida have more than doubled during the past decade, statistics show.

"Data collected during the 2007 season indicate the lowest nesting levels in Florida" in the history of the monitoring program, said a report on the commission's Web site.

While the number of loggerhead nests has been shrinking, green and leatherback turtle nests are showing an increase, in many cases at the same beaches. There's no simple answer for this disparity, said Anne Meylan, who coordinates the statewide nesting beach survey program. Disease, oil spills, red tide and boat collisions kill many sea turtles, and beach development can disturb all wildlife, she said.

One factor that could be affecting loggerheads more than other sea turtles is shrimp boat nets and long-line fishing hooks. Loggerheads eat shrimp and other hard-shelled invertebrates, whereas other sea turtles do not.

A rule was passed several years ago requiring shrimp fisheries to use nets with turtle excluder devices, Meylan said. But because loggerheads take up to 30 years to begin reproducing, it could be decades before the effect of that rule is observed in nesting numbers, she said.

Of the 196 beaches surveyed last year, some had no nests for the first time. Nesting begins in April, peaks in June and July, and ends in September.

Because of their migratory existence, Loggerhead turtles are protected by various international treaties and agreements. Nearly 90 percent of the worlds population is believed to nest on the beaches of Florida and the nation of Oman, on the Arabian Peninsula.