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Sea turtles are hatching along the 35 miles of Mote-monitored beaches from Longboat Key to Venice, and Mote Marine Laboratory scientists would like to remind the public to keep beaches safe for hatchlings crawling from nest to sea, especially during this year of record nesting.
 
As of today, Aug. 2, sea turtle nests have hatched on all Mote-monitored beaches.
 
More nests have been laid this sea turtle nesting season – May 1 through Oct. 31 – along Sarasota County beaches than ever before in Mote’s 35 years of monitoring local beaches. Mote’s Sea Turtle Patrol — a group of scientists, interns and volunteers who monitor local nesting beaches each day of season — report that this year's 4,193 nests have already surpassed the previous record, the entire season total from 2015, by 1,714 nests.
 
“This year it is especially important that we all do as much as we can to help these hatchlings make it safely to the water,” said Kristen Mazzarella, Senior Biologist of Mote’s Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program. “Each sea turtle nest contains about 100 eggs. So far this season we have over 1,700 more nests than we did last year. That is at least 170,000 more hatchlings this year that are trying to find their way to the water.”
 
Below is a table comparing Mote's nest counts so far this year with the highest counts from past years.

*These are not the final nest counts for 2016. Final counts will be available after season concludes.

As hatchlings make their way to Gulf waters, artificial light from human habitation can disorient the tiny turtles, leading them into danger and even death. This year, the situation is even more critical.
 
“With such a successful nesting season, it is vital that we do everything we can to continue the conservation efforts that were started 35 years ago, to make sure it is a successful hatching year as well," Mazzarella said. "A successful nesting year is only important if those hatchlings successfully make it into the ocean."
 
Female sea turtles and their hatchlings find the water by heading toward the brightest horizon. On a natural beach, the ocean horizon is brighter than the shore. On a developed beach, light from waterfront properties can disorient sea turtles and draw them toward roads, drains, yards, swimming pools and other dangerous locations, exhausting the energy they need for reproduction and survival.
 
“So far, we are seeing a lot of hatchlings disorient, which means two or more sea turtle hatchlings travel in the wrong direction for at least 10 feet, but disoriented hatchlings often wander much further than that, crossing roads, falling into swimming pools or holes, getting eaten by predators or simply exhausting their energy,” Mazzarella said. “Even if they find the ocean, they may be too depleted from their detour to survive the next step: a long and strenuous swim to seek food and shelter in Sargassum seaweed miles offshore.”
 
To learn more about disorientations, Mote collects data on every nest that disorients, which takes about an hour to document, not including searching for lost hatchlings. The data is provided to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission and the local municipality's Code Enforcement Officer on the day of the disorientation. The data collected includes the location of the nest, how many turtles disoriented, which direction they traveled, how many were found alive and dead, and how many made it to the water or were transported to Mote's hatchling hospital for release at night or for treatment.

While Mote is a nonprofit and does not enforce sea turtle protection measures, Mote’s data helps Code Enforcement officers determine how severe the disorientation is, locate the light that may have been the cause of disorientation and allows either FWC or local Code Enforcement to implement solutions, if necessary, to ensure nearby hatchlings don’t disorient, too.

If you want to find more turtle-friendly lighting suggestions, please contact your local code enforcement or FWC.  
 
To date, Mote has responded to 105 disoriented nests of hatchlings, 58 on Longboat Key, 10 on Siesta Key, seven on Casey Key, and 30 on Venice with a total of 3,015 hatchlings disoriented.
 
So far this season, Mote has rescued or received about 700 sea turtle hatchlings for various reasons including disorientation and depredations (when a nest is disturbed by a predator), and a handful remain in the Hatchling Hospital in the public Mote Aquarium. The Hatchling Hospital provides food, care and rest to help hatchlings recover their strength before being returned to the wild.
 
To help the success of sea turtle nesting season, county, city and town ordinances provide certain sea turtle protection rules, including rules relating to lighting to help the number of disorientations decline and rules for removing beach furniture and filling in holes on the beach to protect nesting and hatching sea turtles.
 
On July 5, the Town of Longboat Key strengthened its Marine Turtle Protection Ordinance. The new ordinance will strengthen management of artificial lights and of obstacles such as beach furniture that can trap or impede turtles. This ordinance made turtle protections on Longboat Key more similar to those of other local beaches covered by Sarasota County’s code.

What To Do When You Find a Sea Turtle Hatchling

Mote has a Marine Turtle Permit issued by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to work with sea turtles, threatened and endangered species protected by state and federal law. Only those holding appropriate permits may touch or handle sea turtles, their eggs or nest sites.

If you see sea turtle hatchlings that are not making their way to the water, please call Mote's sea turtle program at 941-388-4331 for instructions. Please do not put hatchlings in any water or return them to the ocean. Place them in a bucket with some sand and cover them with a towel and keep them in a dark, cool place without air conditioning. If you call after hours, then Mote's automated message system will let you know what to do. Please listen to it carefully.

Other Turtle-friendly Tips:

Do:

• If you encounter a nesting turtle or hatchlings, remain quiet and observe from a distance.
• Follow county, city and town ordinances.
• Shield or turn off outdoor lights that are visible on the beach from May through October.
• Close drapes after dark and stack beach furniture at the dune line or, ideally, remove it from the beach.
• Fill in holes that may entrap hatchlings on their way to the water.

Do Not:

• Approach nesting turtles or hatchlings, make noise or shine lights at turtles.
• Use flashlights or fishing lamps on the beach.
• Encourage a turtle to move while nesting or pick up hatchlings that have emerged and are heading for the water.
• Use fireworks on the beach.

For questions about sea turtle laws and ordinances or turtle-friendly lighting, feel free to contact your local code enforcement officer or FWC.