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Record year for sea turtle hatchlings, disorientations hit all-time high
Mote Marine Laboratory said it's a record year for sea turtle hatchlings, and they've been keeping track for 43 years. FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon reports.
SARASOTA, Fla. - Mote Marine Laboratory said it's a record year for sea turtle hatchlings, and they've been keeping track for 43 years.
The backstory:
The Gulf beaches have been crawling with sea turtles this year, but Mote says a record number of turtles also ran into problems on their way from the nest to the water.
Along 35 miles of Sarasota County beaches, stretching from Longboat Key to Venice, Mote Marine Laboratory documented good news for sea turtle nests.
"This was our record-breaking nesting year in Sarasota," Dr. Jake Lasala, program manager for the Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program at Mote Marine Laboratory, said.
MORE NEWS: Clearwater Marine Aquarium reports record-breaking sea turtle nesting season
By the numbers:
They documented 5,735 nests, surpassing last year's sea turtle nest numbers by more than a thousand.
Dr. Lasala said conservation efforts have a part to play in the numbers.
"They reach adulthood at 25 to 35, and so by the time the endangered species act would have happened, we have seen a bump and another bump as those females are out there. Females have their offspring that are now having kids," Dr. Lasala said.
Along with the good news, came some bad.
"We also had a record number of disorientations. It was a lot higher, about three times as high," Dr. Lasala said.
Mote Marine Laboratory documented 716 disorientations.
"Disorientations occur when turtles, instead of going to the ocean, they head towards land, and they can disorient. And we want to decrease those numbers. We ask people to turn off their lights so the turtles can go to water," Dr. Lasala said.
Why you should care:
The natural instinct for turtles is to follow light.
Land-based artificial light can confuse and disorient them.
Mote said when turtles get disoriented, they can become exhausted, dehydrated and even die.
What you can do:
"The main thing that we can do to decrease disorientations, we can encourage our friends and neighbors to turn off their lights, and have businesses change their lights from white or bright to red and amber in a way that maximizes safety, but also decreases the wave length so turtles don’t disorient towards those lights," Dr. Lasala said.
Dr. Lasala said work is still needed to protect sea turtles, but this year's nesting numbers give him continued hope.
"It's always nice to see conservation efforts come through, and into fruition. We are fully expecting more record-breaking years in the future," Dr. Lasala said.
Mote Marine Laboratory said items like umbrellas and chairs can also disorient turtles when they bump into them. That's why all these items should not be left overnight on the beach.
The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon through Mote Marine Laboratory and Dr. Jake Lasala.