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 Sea turtle nesting season
peaks with beach releases
By WILLIAM R. HAWKINS
Waterfront News Writer
With nesting season now at its peak, hatching
baby sea turtles are crawling daily on their own to a new life in the ocean, with many others receiving a helping hand from man. And thanks to a Broward County Parks and Recreation program, local
residents have a chance to help in releasing the tiny reptiles along South Florida beaches. Each summer, South Florida hosts the largest gathering of nesting
sea turtles in the world, with an average 100-120 eggs laid in 40,000 to 70,000 nests per season.
Stefanie Ouellette, a NOVA University graduate student and program manager of Broward's sea turtle
project and Joanne Howes, naturalist for the Ann Kolb Nature Center, coordinate weekly turtle release programs. Always a popular draw with near sold-out attendance, the event allows local residents to learn
about the sea turtle nesting process and actually visit local beaches at night to participate in the release of
newly-hatched babies into the ocean. "This is really neat," said Ron Souto of Hollywood as he attended a
recent release for the first time. "I had always heard about this and read some things, but actually seeing the babies crawl along the sand and go into the ocean is a real experience."
The releases are held at Hollywood North Beach Park after a slide show each Wednesday and Friday
through Sept. 5. Sessions accommodate only 50 people. Pre-registration, with a $3 fee, is required.
"I think this is just great and you learn so much about what they go through," said Joan DiMaio of Coral
Springs.
Broward holds a contract with NOVA University to oversee the turtle program, which takes place along
beaches from Hallandale north to Deerfield Beach. Only the John Lloyd State Park in Dania Beach is excluded
since the state park rangers handle nesting sea turtles along that beach. Ouellette estimates that more than
2,200 turtle nests may appear on Broward beaches during this season, which started in May and runs through
September. Of that total, 1,500 are "natural" and left alone in the sand where the female turtle deposited her
eggs. Park staff each morning patrol beaches to locate the nests and then mark them off so the public does not
disturb them. Most of the natural nests are located along beaches in Hillsboro, Pompano and John Lloyd State Park.
An additional 700 nests are created at special hatcheries in Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale and Pompano
Beach. Staff relocates nests from beaches in busy populated areas and brings them to the hatcheries where
they are placed in safe areas away from the public. Ouellette said 100 percent of baby sea turtles would likely
hatch from the natural nests and crawl to the ocean. However, in the hatcheries, only 70 percent of the babies may hatch and they're taken by staff daily and released into the ocean.
Based on this year's projected 2,200-nest figure, Broward may well see more than 250,000 sea turtles born
this season. But with estimates that only one in 1,000 survive their first year in the ocean, only 250 of that total
may ever live. About 95 percent of new babies born along the beach are loggerhead turtles. Remaining species include the green, leatherback and hawksbill turtles.
Beach development and environmental changes affect turtle nesting numbers from year to year. "Turtles
comes back to the same area where they were born," Ouellette said. "But when the beach is changed in some way, the turtle knows it and many times will come ashore only to leave again without depositing any eggs
because the environment has changed." Erosion and light pollution have all impacted negatively upon the
nesting process. In addition, predators such as raccoons dig up the eggs or birds lay in wait to nab the babies as they crawl to the ocean.
The female turtles come ashore at night and usually at high tides caused by new or full moons. They dig
holes about two feet deep, deposit the eggs, cover the nest with sand and crawl back into the ocean – never to
see their young. Each female may nest two or three times in a season. After an incubation period of 45-55
days, eggs hatch in the cooler night hours making it easier for the babies to push up through the sand. The
turtles are drawn to the light of the ocean due to moon reflection and, if they can make it to the water, they'll have a chance to live.
But in some areas, babies become disoriented due to artificial light from street lamps or nearby buildings
like high-rise condos, and end up going the wrong way — never making it to water. Ouellette said many Broward beachfront communities have enacted laws to create shields over lighting to keep beaches dark and
help protect turtles. "It's important for each baby to crawl to the ocean on its own because that process links
the turtle to its birthing beach to which it may some day return," she said. "We want all of our babies to come back to their beaches."
If the baby makes it to the ocean and survives its first year, chances are good it will grow to adulthood.
Females will give birth in 15 or so years. Turtles may live anywhere from 30 to 50 years and they've been around for 150 million years.
For more information call 954-926-2480.
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