FWC, partners give sea turtle hatchlings a fighting chance
News Release
Friday, July 02, 2010
Media contact: Patricia Behnke, 850-251-2130
Sea turtle hatchlings face great challenges when
they crawl to the water, swim offshore, and begin their lives in
the ocean. They face many dangerous obstacles, both on the beach
and in the water - some natural, some because of man - that make
survival difficult.
This summer, the hatchlings of these threatened and
endangered species emerging from nests on Northwest Florida beaches
would face an additional, likely insurmountable obstacle in the
form of large amounts of oil from the continuing Deepwater Horizon
oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil products could cause problems
for hatchlings on the beach, but the highest degree of danger lies
in the ocean currents that determine where these young sea turtles
go. They are the same currents that determine where the floating
oil goes, which would constantly bring the young turtles to the
floating oil.
That's why a group of sea turtle experts from the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), NOAA's National Marine
Fisheries Service and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission (FWC) began planning a way to prevent this impending
loss of newly hatched sea turtles when it was clear that oil would
continue to pour into the Gulf throughout the sea turtle nesting
season.
"We had to determine the best course of action
given the extraordinary circumstances of this oil spill," said Dr.
Robbin Trindell, the FWC's sea turtle management coordinator. "If
we left the hatchlings to fend for themselves, they would face a
certain death. While the system we've devised will give them at
least some chance for survival, it is important to note that
relocating nests at any time is also very risky and would be
considered only during an unprecedented disaster such as the
Deepwater Horizon incident."
The plan involves moving sea turtle eggs that are
within a week of hatching from the beaches in Northwest Florida to
a facility on the central-east coast of Florida. Once the
eggs have been removed, they will be placed carefully in coolers
with dampened sand from the nest, transported in a specially
designed, temperature-controlled and air-cushioned truck to the
east coast, somewhere near Cape Canaveral, and held under carefully
monitored conditions until the hatchlings begin emerging from the
eggs.
The eggs will hatch at this facility, and the
hatchlings will be released on a nearby beach. This type of
action is a last resort in Florida, where every effort is made to
leave sea turtle nests in place so that hatchlings emerge naturally
and depart from the beach where their mother nested.
Sea turtle eggs can be moved as they near their
hatching date, but some eggs may still be lost because of the
movement.
"We won't attempt to move the eggs until they have
incubated at least 49 days," Trindell said. "The permitted
individuals who check beaches every morning for sea turtle nesting
activity have been diligent in marking the nests and keeping data
on when the nests were laid so we have accurate dates for when the
eggs can be moved."
Moving these eggs also brings concerns about
disrupting the poorly understood mechanisms that guide a female sea
turtle back to the beach where she hatched. It is possible
these hatchlings would eventually return to Northwest Florida to
nest. However, it is also possible that releasing the hatchlings on
the east coast of Florida will result in those turtles returning to
the east coast or going to some other area to nest.
About 700 sea turtle nests are laid in Northwest
Florida each year, and each nest typically contains 100-120
eggs. Loggerhead sea turtles are the most common species to
nest in this part of Florida, but some nests of Kemp's ridleys and
green turtles also are expected. Many of the nests will be
moved by late July, but the process could continue until October,
depending on when nests are laid.
Implementation of this plan will require a huge effort by all the
volunteers, the FWC and its partners, but everyone involved is
determined to give these sea turtles a chance to make it to clean
waters, where they can continue their life cycle.
"It is a phenomenal partnership, with everyone
working toward one goal, and that is to help our wildlife survive
this disaster," Trindell said. "There are folks out on the beaches
cleaning and searching for sea turtle nests all night long now, and
none of what we are about to undertake could occur without those
partnerships."
At this time, there are no plans to relocate any
eggs from other Gulf beaches in Florida. However, the FWC is
coordinating with permit holders to mark turtle nests all along the
Gulf Coast and will closely monitor the situation.
For more information on the plan to relocate
Northwest Florida sea turtle eggs, go to www.fws.gov/northflorida. To report sightings
of oiled wildlife, call 866-557-1401. For more information on sea
turtle conservation, visit MyFWC.com/SeaTurtle. For information on
volunteering to aid in the recovery effort, call 866-448-5816. For
other information on the oil spill, go to MyFWC.com/OilSpill.
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