Green turtle finishing her nesting as the sun rises on the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo : G. Stahelin/Marine Turtle Research Group/University of Central Florida)
Biology experts and conservationists reveal that there are new nesting numbers of sea turtles found in the southeastern coast of the United States that suggest that sea turtles are now making a comeback. Sea turtles are considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act for 37 years.
These high turtle numbers reveals how conservation efforts worked well to help a species that was almost extinct in the 1980s. Researchers also note that the sea turtles rebounded from last year's slump to follow one of the strongest nesting seasons this summer, ever recorded on the beaches of the Carolinas all the way to Florida.
Scientists and volunteers counted a record of 2,292 loggerhead sea turtles in Georgia alone from May to August. This is the fifth season in a period of six years in Georgia where turtle numbers have increased from its previous record, noting that the state only possesses 100 miles of coastline.
According to biologist Mark Dodd from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources who also leads the sea turtle recovery program, every big year they arrive at, the more confident they become that this can be concluded as a recovery period for the species.
On the other hand, Florida is also breaking records with its turtle numbers even if nesting season will not end until October. According to Kate Mansfield who is the head of the Marine Turtle Research Group from the University of Central Florida, more than 12,000 endangered green sea turtles were recorded nesting along the beach at the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, which sets a new record.
In the 1980s, green sea turtle nests found along Florida beaches were only less than 50 every year. Mansfield also says that turtles should be able to live until 25 years of age to start reproducing where it will take decades before researchers can determine if these nesting trends are signs of the species recovering.
The loggerhead sea turtles can grow and weigh up to 300 pounds where they dig their nests along the beaches of the Carolinas to Florida. Prior nesting numbers reveal a strong nesting comeback in the Carolinas this summer after numbers dropped to almost half last year. Georgia also suffered a similar slump where numbers dropped to 1,201.
Experts say that this should not be a cause for alarm, since female loggerheads do not lay eggs every year, where some take two to three years off from nesting.
