ENVIRONMENT

Sea turtle nesting season begins today

Eric Staats
eric.staats@naplesnews.com; 239-263-4780

The sea turtles are coming as one of Southwest Florida's most anticipated natural rituals gears up again.

Sea turtle nesting season officially starts Monday, kicking off a summer of sea turtles crawling out of the Gulf of Mexico under cover of darkness and laying eggs in the sand, and then baby sea turtles hatching and scurrying into the surf in the moonlight. The season runs through October.

Related: Collier County reports record-breaking number of sea turtle nests this season

Collier County already has its first sea turtle nest, laid on Keewaydin Island south of Naples by a mother turtle not caring that the human calendar had not yet turned to May. The most common nesting sea turtles in Southwest Florida are loggerheads, although greens and Kemp's ridleys also venture onto the beaches.

Last year sea turtles in Collier and south Lee broke records, with 1,144 nests in Collier and 270 on Fort Myers Beach, Bonita Beach, Bunch Beach and Big Hickory Island.

That was more nests than had been laid in Collier since at least 2001; in south Lee, turtles had not laid that many nests since 2012, when they laid 203 nests, turtle monitors said. That translates to some 80,000 eggs and more than 50,000 hatchlings.

"It was incredible," said Maura Kraus, Collier's sea turtle program coordinator. "We're hoping that all of those years of sea turtle conservation are paying off."

Sea turtles take 30 years to reach sexual maturity, so turtles born three decades ago have had the benefit of sea turtle protection laws.

Beach lights must be shielded so as not to deter nesting or hatching turtles; commercial fishermen must use special hooks to avoid catching sea turtles; and shrimpers must use nets with devices to allow turtles to escape.

More: Conservancy biologist honored with building name on Keewaydin

"Hopefully, we're on the upward trend of nesting for loggerheads," said Eve Haverfiled, who runs the nonprofit Turtle Time that monitors beaches in south Lee County. "We'll wait and see."

The big nesting numbers in 2016 came despite two tropical storms, Colin and Hermine, that washed out or flooded more than 500 nests in Collier County; almost 8,300 turtle eggs were taken by predators, mostly raccoons, in 2016.

From storms to beach lighting compliance, Kraus said she never knows what to expect from turtle season.

"We're ready for another big year, should it happen," she said.

TURTLE TIPS

» Turn off lights that shine on the beach, including cellphones.

» Don't approach a nesting sea turtle. That can cause her to abandon nesting.

» Keep pets off the beach to avoid frightening nesting turtles or digging up nests.

» Fill holes on the beach that can trap adult or hatching sea turtles.

» Remove beach chairs that can impede sea turtles

Source: Collier County