Sea turtles nesting at record rate in Georgia

Sea turtles nesting at record rate in Georgia
Savannah Morning News, July 9, 2011, Mary Landers

Sea turtles are nesting in record numbers on Georgia beaches this summer. As of Friday, 1,590 nests, almost all from loggerhead sea turtles, had been recorded from Cumberland to Tybee islands.
That's ahead of the pace of 2010, which was also a stellar year for turtles. There are about three weeks remaining in the nesting season, which typically begins here in May. Georgia Sea Turtle Program Coordinator Mark Dodd predicted the total number of nests could reach close to 2,100.
"We expect to go way beyond last year," said Dodd, a senior wildlife biologist with the Department of Natural Resources. "And last year was a great year."

Georgia recorded 1,771 nests last year.

Most of the state's nests are from loggerhead seaa turtles, but 11 have been identified as leatherback nests, three are green turtle nests, and another nine are undetermined. Leatherbacks are a tropical species finding its way farther north as ocean and global temperatures increase, Dodd said.
Chatham County's Ossabaw Island has recorded 372 nests, putting it far ahead of the much larger and usual leader, Cumberland Island. Dodd can't say why.

"I would have never expected that many nests on Ossabaw," he said.

Most nesting beaches in Georgia are patrolled daily, some by paid staffers hired for the summers to live on remote barrier islands as "turtle interns." But there are also legions of volunteers that look for nests, protect them from predators and guard hatchlings when they emerge. Their efforts and other conservation measures, such as turtle excluder devices that keep turtles from drowning in shrimp nets, appear to be making a difference, Dodd said.

"We're hoping that the long-term decline has bottomed out," he said. "The last couple years they've started to increase their nesting. And it's going to be another good year. We're hopeful this is the beginning of the recovery."

Tybee found solid evidence this month that its efforts to attract nesting turtles are paying off. Over the winter Chatham County retrofitted the lights on the Tybee pavilion to make them more turtle-friendly. Bright lights can disorient turtles.

Recently a turtle volunteer discovered loggerhead sea turtle tracks that led directly up the beach under the pier. That turtle didn't actually lay eggs, instead looping up and back in what turtle researchers call a false crawl.

"Although there were no eggs, it was nice to see a crawl near the pier," wrote Tybee sea turtle project coordinator Tammy Smith in an email announcing the crawl. "It is evident that the new lights have helped darken the beach."

As of Friday, Tybee had seven nests recorded.

As nesting winds down, hatching gears up. The first three nests hatched Tuesday on Sea Island and Ossabaw. Hatching typically continues through October.