NEWS PRESS (Fort Myers, Florida) 30 April 07 Turtle season calls for vigilance - Lighting rules along beach help hatchlings with poor odds (Kevin Lollar)
Statistically, sea turtles have a tough time.
Experts say that one of every 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings survive to adulthood. Hatchlings and juvenile turtles fall victim to many predators. Red tide can kill them; they can become entangled in commercial and recreational fishing gear and debris; and they can die from eating plastic bags or balloons.
So, with sea turtle nesting season starting Tuesday, it's up to humans to help increase hatchlings' chances of survival by making nesting beaches sea turtle friendly until the season ends Oct. 31.
"We have to consider that we're sharing the habitat, not only with sea turtles but also with wading birds and migratory birds," said Eve Haverfield, founder of Turtle Time Inc., whose volunteers monitor beaches from Fort Myers Beach to the Collier County line for sea turtle nests.
"Making beaches safe is better for the critters and better for people," she said.
Four of Florida's sea turtle species — leatherback, Kemp's ridley, green and hawksbill — are endangered. Loggerheads, the most common turtle to nest in Southwest Florida, are threatened.
A major concern during nesting season is artificial lights that shine onto beaches.
About two months after a female sea turtle lays her eggs, hatchlings emerge from the nest and instinctively move toward the brightest light.
Under natural conditions, that would be light from the sky reflected in the sea.
Artificial lights on land, however, can be brighter than light from the sea, so hatchlings head inland where they die of exposure and are crushed by cars or killed by predators.
In 1986, the state published the Model Lighting Ordinance for Marine Turtle Protection to guide local governments in how to create lighting ordinances.
Since then, 19 counties, including Lee County, and 57 municipalities, including Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Springs and Sanibel, have adopted lighting ordinances to protect sea turtles.
To keep turtles from becoming disoriented, lights can be turned off, repositioned behind structures, including bushes, shielded or redirected.
People on south Lee County beaches take lighting ordinances seriously for the most part, Haverfield said.
Sanibel and Captiva residents do, too, said Beverly Ball, who monitors those islands.
"I've talked to groups who have humongous problems, but people here are mostly very cooperative," she said. "It's been a long struggle. We've been working on it seven or eight years. The main problem is usually people renting down here."
Another big turtle issue is furniture on beaches at night: Female sea turtles can become entangled in beach furniture.
"People say, 'What's one chair?'" Haverfield said. "Well, if one turtle crawls into one chair and it wears the chair into the ocean, more than likely it will die."
So, one turtle dies. What's the big deal?
Well, Haverfield pointed out, a female turtle has 30 reproductive years and nests about every other year, so that's 15 years. Say a turtle lays 1,000 eggs a year, that's 15,000 hatchlings.
"Only about one turtle in 1,000 reaches adulthood, so a female might produce 15 adults in her lifetime," Haverfield said. "So, yeah, one turtle tangle up and dying in beach furniture is a big deal."
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070430/NEWS0105/704300350/1007/NEWS0105
