Page 9 - Jupiter Ocean Mile - September '19
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Jupiter Ocean Mile, Page 9
Loggerhead Marinelife Center Breaks All-Time
Sea Turtle Nest Count Record
As of Tuesday, Aug. 6, Loggerhead Marinelife
Center’s (LMC) research biologists recorded an all-time
record-breaking sea turtle nest count of 19,580 nests (and
counting). The center’s last record-breaking nesting season
was recorded in 2017 with a total of 19,085 nests. Sea turtle
nesting season in Palm Beach County runs from March 1
to Oct. 31 annually. Although the center has experienced
record-breaking nesting numbers in previous years, other
years have shown a lower yield. For comparison, the 2018
nesting season resulted in a total of just over 11,900 sea Turtle Hospital at LMC have ingested
turtles nests. With three months left of nesting season, plastic. In addition to plastic pollution,
our researchers expect the nesting numbers to continue to sea turtles are faced with threats of
increase by a few more thousand nests. LMC’s research record heat temperatures. The record
biologists will continue to mark and monitor sea turtle nests heat may skew sea turtle hatchlings’
until the end of nesting season, which ends on Oct. 31. gender to female, thus reducing the
LMC biologists estimate that over 1,367,489 sea turtle number of males.
hatchlings have been produced from nests laid thus far on our How To Help:
beaches. With four full-time members of the research staff, To help LMC celebrate the record
seven seasonal morning technicians, two night technicians, breaking sea turtle nesting season:
five morning interns and one night intern, LMC’s research • Blue Friends Society Beach Cleanup: Join LMC staff • Keep your lights out near the beach and install sea
staff members are able to monitor a 9.5-mile stretch of beach and volunteers on Aug. 17 at 8:30 a.m. on the center’s turtle-friendly lighting where needed.
in Palm Beach County. This specific stretch of beach is one of back deck for our monthly Blue Friends Society Beach • Bring weak or disoriented hatchlings to Loggerhead
the most densely nested sea turtle nesting beaches in the world. Cleanup where you can help reduce debris on one of the Marinelife Center. Hatchlings can be placed in a bucket
LMC, a nonprofit sea turtle hospital, research, education and world’s most important sea turtle nesting beaches. with damp sand, no water, for transport. They can be
ocean conservation institution is located in Juno Beach. • Adopt a nest: To celebrate this year’s record nesting placed in the 24-hour drop-off cooler located outside the
Director of Research, Dr. Justin Perrault commented season people are encouraged to adopt a sea turtle nest. center’s entrance (14200 U.S. Highway One, Juno Beach,
on the success of LMC’s research efforts and the record- For more information on this program please visit: https:// FL 33408).
breaking nest count, “This news is quite exciting, marinelife.org/help/adopt/. Don’t:
especially since season is nowhere near over, and we are Additionally, please remember to practice sea turtle- • Interact with or disrupt a nesting sea turtle.
still expecting a few thousand more nests this season. The safe protocol when visiting our local Florida beaches • Release balloons (deflated ones resemble jellyfish, a
recent rise in sea turtle nest counts are worth celebrating during nesting and hatching season. common prey item for sea turtles).
and are likely due to protection measures, enacted several Do: • Use lighting on the beach at night including flashlights,
decades ago. We have to remind ourselves that there is • Throw away debris left behind on the beach. lanterns, flash photography and cell phones.
still much work to be done to combat existing threats to • Fill in holes in the sand, knock down sand castles and • Touch hatchlings on their way to the ocean.
sea turtles, including reducing plastic pollution, assessing remove foreign objects that may obstruct a sea turtle’s • Take or touch empty egg shells, or exposed, unhatched eggs.
habitat loss, and improving water quality.” path to and from the ocean. • Harm or harass sea turtles, their nests or hatchlings.
While nesting numbers are at an all-time high this • If you come across a nesting sea turtle, observe at a • Use shovels to dig on the beach during nesting season.
year, it’s vital to remember that sea turtles continue to distance from behind. It is illegal to harm or harass sea turtles, their nests or
face threats, namely plastic pollution. Currently, 100 • Look out for disoriented hatchlings on trails and hatchlings, which are protected by the U.S. Endangered
percent of post-hatchlings who are admitted to The Sea roads near the beach. Species Act of 1973 and Florida Statute Chapter 370. For
more information about sea turtle nesting, visit marinelife.
org/nesting or marinelife.org/research.
About Loggerhead Marinelife Center
Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC) is a nonprofit sea
turtle research, rehabilitation and educational institution
that promotes conservation of ocean ecosystems with
a focus on threatened and endangered sea turtles. The
center features an on-site hospital, research laboratory,
educational exhibits and aquariums, and also operates
the Juno Beach Pier, which hosts world-class angling and
sightseeing. Situated on one of the world’s most important
Jupiter Beach Specialists sea turtle nesting beaches, Loggerhead Marinelife Center
is open daily and hosts over 350,000 guests free-of-charge
each year. The center’s conservation team works with 90
local and international organizations across six continents
REDUCED to form partnerships and share conservation initiatives
and best practices that are core to its mission of ocean
conservation. The center is expanding and has launched its
Waves of Progress capital expansion campaign, designed to
accelerate and amplify LMC’s conservation and education
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