One of my last posts included some key information about the nesting, hatchling, and survival rates of the Loggerhead Turtle population in Southwest Florida, Collier County in particular. This month we will look at the number of nests year 2017 over year 2018, the number of correlated false crawls, and how many nests hatched. Please note that false crawls occur when the turtles crawl up onto the land and return to the sea without creating a nest or laying any eggs. There is little understanding why this happens and thus it is important to continue to tabulate how many there are year over year. This anomaly is under investigation.
LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLE HATCHLING REPORT
AS OF AUGUST 20, 2018
Beach
Nests
False Crawls
Hatched Nests
This Year
Last Year
This Year
Last Year
This Year
Last Year
Disoriented
Barefoot
243
179
247
276
111
70
1
Delnor Wiggins
60
40
45
91
29
4
0
Vanderbilt
197
212
157
317
97
84
2
Parkshore
170
161
149
171
81
78
6
City of Naples
221
204
127
156
100
77
5
Keewaydin Island
356
433
433
518
142
53
0
Sea Oat Island
9
24
3
14
4
1
0
Marco Island
68
121
119
202
28
70
7
Kice & Cape Romano
169
135
177
127
69
43
0
10,000 Islands
91
125
143
116
51
51
0
Collier County Totals
1584
1634
1600
1988
712
531
21
TO REPORT A DEAD, INJURED OR DISORIENTED SEA TURTLE ON MARCO CALL: (239)289-9736 OR (239)289-9687
The chart above compares the various Loggerhead Turtle Nesting and Hatchling areas of Collier County from 2017 thru late summer 2018. As you can see 5 of the 10 areas saw an increase in the number of nests and the other 5 declined in number of nests from last year. False crawls declined in all areas except Kice & Cape Romano and the 10,000 Islands. All areas reported an increase in Hatched Nests this year, many sharply. About half of the areas also reported some disoriented turtles post hatching. Disorientation can occur because of light from the shore. Turtles use the moonlight to find their way back to the water after hatching. If they turn instead and head for shore they risk dehydration and death. The thwart this possibility we ask that homes along the shore reduce the amount of artificial light, both inside and outside of the home, in the evening hours during turtle nesting season. (May thru October)
A joint study conducted between the College of Charleston and North Carolina State University held that cooler sand temperatures can increase crawl time from nest to ocean meaning that they are moving at a slower pace. It was also noted that they swam slower and/or required more strokes to make certain measurable distances once they got to the water. Therefore, cooler sand temperatures in nesting areas may contribute to fewer turtles surviving post hatching which diminishes the overall population counts. Weather is a factor in the overall survival rate of these Loggerhead turtles and one factor that we cannot change.
