Submitted by Mary Duffy
Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch
July 12, 2016 1:00 a.m.
We came to realize in early May that this would be no ordinary sea turtle nesting season. Volunteers with the Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch (AISTW), Inc. have been busy on the beach every morning since May 10, the date of he first nest of the season.
The group monitors the beaches from May 1 through August 31. Turtles come ashore at night and deposit their eggs in the sand. Volunteers are looking for tracks in the sand made by the female turtle as she crawls ashore. Sometimes a turtle crawls onto the beach to nest, but abandons her attempt. This is called a false crawl, a normal behavior by female sea turtles.
More times than not though, she will lay approximately 100 eggs in a cavity she digs with her rear flippers that reaches a depth of two feet. She then covers the clutch of eggs, camouflages the site, and returns to the water. It takes approximately 50 – 60 days for the eggs to incubate, hatch, and emerge.
The 2016 nesting season is a busy one along all Florida beaches. As of July 8, 2016, AISTW volunteers have documented 209 nests on the island. This includes nests identified by volunteers at Fort Clinch State Park. Nesting numbers over the past five years indicate the increase.
On July 8, 2015 there were 151 nests; in 2014 there were 73 nests; in 2013 there were 157 nests; in 2012 there were 135 nests; in 2011 there were 86 nests. The numbers fluctuate from year to year because turtles nest every 2 – 3 years. Most sea turtles will also nest from 2 – 7 times per season. We expect nesting to begin to slow down in late July and early August. The first nets of the season are beginning to emerge now and emergences will continue into September and maybe October.
For more information visit www.ameliaislandseaturtlewatch.com
Editor’s Note: After Commissioner Len Kreger mentioned at a city commission meeting that it was a record year for sea turtle nestings, we asked an area experts on sea turtles, Mary Duffy, to provide us with more information. Thank you Mary for you article and thank you to all of our Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch volunteers. You have raised awareness so our sea turtles can continue to find safe haven for nesting on our Amelia Island beaches.