Record-breaking turtle nesting season concludes on Longboat Key through Venice
A loggerhead turtle nesting on a Mote-monitored beach during the 2016 turtle nesting season. Credit: Mote Marine Lab.
Sea turtles have finished nesting on local beaches and Mote Marine Laboratory scientists are happy to announce that 2016 nest numbers broke records along Mote-monitored beaches from Longboat Key through Venice.
“Not only was this year record-breaking, but we saw almost twice the amount of nests we saw last year, which is just incredible,” said Kristen Mazzarella, senior biologist with Mote’s Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program. “Turtles take about 30 years to sexually mature and produce eggs, and we hope that one reason we are seeing this increase is because the baby turtles Mote started to protect 30 years ago are now old enough to come back and lay their eggs.”
Mote's Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program has coordinated conservation of endangered sea turtles along 35 miles of Sarasota County beaches for the past 35 years. The program’s multi-decade monitoring efforts provide data that resource managers can use to understand and protect sea turtle populations. Long-term data are particularly important because sea turtles are long-lived species.
Following a thorough review of data once sea turtle nesting season officially concluded on Oct. 31, Mote’s Sea Turtle Patrol — a group of scientists, interns and volunteers who have monitored local nesting beaches for 35 years — report that Longboat Key through Venice hosted a confirmed total of 4,588 nests in 2016, which beats the 2015 record by 2,103 nests.
Of this year's nests, 578 were laid along Longboat Key in Manatee County, beating its previous 2015 record of 340 nests; 1,184 nests were laid along the entire Longboat Key, beating its 2015 record by 486 nests; and 476 nests were laid along Siesta Key, beating its 2015 record by 78 nests.
The last Mote-monitored sea turtle nest — on Siesta Key — remained unhatched into December. On Dec. 12, Mote staff excavated the nest and found one loggerhead sea turtle hatchling beginning to emerge from its egg, another fully hatched, and other eggs that were not viable. One of those hatchlings survived and received short-term care in Mote's Hatchling Hospital, especially to gradually warm its body. The hatchling was released the same evening from Siesta Key. Sea turtle nests in southwest Florida often take about 55 days to hatch, but cooler conditions — such as Siesta Key's white sand and autumn cool-downs — can slow this process. This year's final nest was in the sand for more than 90 days.
This year's record nest numbers, an all-time high since the inception of Mote’s Sea Turtle Patrol 35-years ago, signify the need for conservation support. Funding for supplies and operating costs will be in high demand following the highly successful nesting season and projections for even more successful years to come.
How to help sea turtles
Support sea turtle conservation and research.
Mote scientists are seeking donations of supplies and funding to help support the Sea Turtle Patrol as they prepare for another busy year in 2017.
To make a donation, visit www.mote.org/donate, click "Donations" and choose to donate to Mote's operating fund. During the checkout, enter “Sea Turtle Conservation and Research” in the box marked “donor notes.”
To make an in-kind donation of supplies, please contact Kathy Klingensmith at 941-388-4441, ext. 308, or kak@mote.org.
Supplies needed to gear up for the 2017 turtle nesting season include:
Black permanent markers from Sharpie
100-foot large measuring tapes with non-metal blades
Paint roller covers, 9-inch and 4-inch (for painting yellow stakes to mark nests)
Flagging tape (for marking nests)
Latex gloves, medium size (for excavating hatched nests to document their contents)
Rubber mallets (for pounding stakes into the sand to mark nests)
Handheld GPS units (for documenting locations of turtle activities)
Digital cameras (for documenting nests and turtle crawls)
All-terrain vehicle covers (for ATVs used to patrol beaches)
Yellow paint, 5-gallon cans (for painting stakes to mark nests)
Large tarps (used when painting nest stakes)
WD-40 lubricant (1 gallon)
AAA and AA batteries (for GPS and cameras used to document nests)
Waterproof field notebooks (from “Rite in the Rain” brand)
Red LED headlamps (for monitoring and studying sea turtles at night on the beach – red light does not disturb nesting turtles or hatchlings)
Wire cutters for making and disassembling protective cages