Possible Loss of 18 Sea Turtle Nests After Tropical Storm Beryl

Turtle Nest After Tropical Storm Beryl

On Tuesday, May 29, the day after Tropical Storm Beryl arrived in Fernandina, dedicated volunteers from the Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch assessed the damage to area turtle nests.  Early results indicate a possible loss of 18 nests.  “We may find later that we just lost the markers.  All but two of the remaining nests were washed over repeatedly.  It is hard to know the true impact until later,” says Mary Duffy, long time A.I. Sea Turtle Watch volunteer.

Yesterday, beach combers were reporting turtle eggs along the beaches.

Despite the disappointing news, there is  good news to report ! “Just to show how quickly the turtles begin nesting again after a storm, we had a new leatherback turtle nest this morning.”