Lots of Turtle Nesting sites this year in Florida!
Some good news for sea turtles – reports are in that nesting sites have increased in Florida, perhaps due to protections put into place in the 1970s. Read the article, from abcactionnews.com, below:
ANNA MARIA ISLAND, Fla. – The number of successful nesting sites for loggerhead turtles on Anna Maria Island is close to breaking the season record, which was set last year.
With the peak nesting season winding down, the beaches are about 40 nests short of 360, the current record from 2012.
The average for the island is 140.
“Last year we’d seen a huge peak in nesting, as did everyone in the state of Florida,” said Suzi Fox, executive director of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch. “We were two or three times our normal amounts of nesting.”
Fox credits the numerous environmental protections that have been put in place over the course of several decades. Loggerhead turtles don’t mature until they reach 17-years-old, with a reproductive cycle extending to age 33.
Fox points out that the Endangered Species Act was approved in the 1970’s, so it’s possible that decades later the beaches are seeing the effect of more turtles surviving to reach egg-laying age.
“The federal laws have absolutely helped make all the difference in the world here,” Fox said, also crediting the additional rules put in place by Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, along with the Anna Maria Island itself.
The bright outlook comes at the same time the federal government is considering additional protections for loggerheads, including offshore areas were the fishing industry threatens their livelihood. Florida’s beach locations where the turtles nest could be designated as critical habitat areas, bringing more restrictions on development and lighting which are known to affect the turtle’s survival.
Read more: http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/turtle-nesting-near-all-time-record#ixzz2arHqoJEy