2019 a great year for sea turtles!

Conservancy biologists have been monitoring Keewaydin Island for sea turtle nesting activity for the past 37 years. Though annual nest numbers vary, the upward trend in recent years is encouraging.

In fact, the 2019 nesting season is proving to be a record one with 439 nests being documented. As all species of sea turtle that frequent U.S. waters are listed as either threatened or endangered so the trend on Keewaydin and elsewhere around Florida are hopeful signs for the future of these iconic animals. The majority of nesting on Keewaydin is by loggerhead turtles, however, green turtle nests are also periodically recorded.

Scientists estimate that about one out of 1,000 hatchlings reach adulthood. These are long odds so adults nest 4–5 times with each nest typically containing 100 eggs. They nest at 2 to 4-year intervals, so the fate of each nest is important.

During their 60-day incubation period, nests are subject to predation, flooding by storm tides and sometimes poaching by humans. As hatchling crawl towards the water they may also be predated or disoriented by inappropriate beach lights. They find the water by crawling towards light, which on a dark beach is over the open water.

Even though nest numbers over the past two years were high, they proved to be difficult ones for the turtles. In 2017, over half of the 411 nests on Keewaydin were destroyed by feral hogs and coyotes. Then on September 10, Hurricane Irma ended washed away the few remaining nests. In 2018, many adult turtles suffered the ill effects of a severe and persist red tide. A record number of dead or sick sea turtles were recorded along Southwest Florida beaches.

With nest predation much reduced and no major storm events in 2018, we documented a record number of hatchlings (21,447) reaching the Gulf. What we don’t know is how the red tide in offshore waters may have influenced the survival of these hatchlings. What we do know is that so far in 2019, nest predation has been insignificant, red tide levels are low, and there have been no storms.

As of mid-September 385 of the 439 nests on Keewaydin have been assessed for hatching success so signs are pointing toward a record year for hatchling reaching the Gulf, which is an encouraging sign for the Keewaydin turtles’ future.

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