Nesting season heats up after a slow start

As we reported in last month’s column, turtle nesting, due to weather conditions, got off to a slow start as compared to last year’s numbers. But, as of the end of July, we are surpassing 2009 numbers with 1,097 nests total thus far on Mote Marine Laboratory-monitored beaches.

Some of those nests have started to hatch, and we are tallying the numbers of successful hatchlings as we excavate nests. We are seeing good hatch rates in general, although some nests on Longboat Key have shown possible heat-related mortality of late-stage embryos. This will probably resolve itself as we get more rain and the sand cools down.

Meanwhile, the amazing transport of turtle eggs from the shores of the northern Gulf of Mexico (approximately 4,000 eggs per day) to the climate-controlled warehouse at the Kennedy Space Center continues. Already from those eggs, 2,168 hatchlings have been released on Florida’s East Coast.

As of Aug. 2, rescuers picked up 843 adult sea turtles near the oil spill, and 503 were already dead. Six were treated for oil exposure and flown from Louisiana to Tampa and then driven to Mote Marine Laboratory for a few more days of care. Mote has been approved to do oil spill-related sampling of loggerheads, including “shell swipes,” sand samples, excavated nest contents and using an egg from 10 nests for toxicological sampling.

As you can see, Mote’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital is mighty busy these days and not just with oil-spill patients. We told you about Hayley, a green sea turtle that had to have one of her eyes removed because it was beyond repair. Happily, she is recovering nicely, healing well and eating and acting normally. She has been moved to a much larger rehabilitation tank to encourage foraging and practice for life in the world with just one eye. She continues to progress and should be a good candidate for release soon. So, cheers to Hayley until that time! And cheers to all of us until next month.

Virginia Sanders is the spokesperson for the Longboat Key Turtle Conservation Program, serves on the Citizens Advisory Board of the National Estuary Program and is a Mote Marine volunteer.