From the Examiner By: Sonia Lavina

The first sea turtle nests were found in Florida on Redington Beach Monday and at Fort De Soto on Tuesday, marking the beginning of this year’s nesting season reported the Tampa Bay Times on May 14.

Five women also discovered the first loggerhead sea turtle nest in Catham County, Georgia yesterday.

Mike Anderson, supervisor of the Marine Turtle Program at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium said the nests will be ready to hatch in about fifty days.

Nesting sea turtles once had no trouble finding a dark place to nest, but beaches are now lined with condominiums, businesses and hotels.

Sea turtle nesting season began on May 1st and continues to October 31st. During this time many beachfront properties participate in a program called “Lights Out.” This program is designed to reduce the amount of artificial lighting near the beaches that can disorientate hatchlings and prevent them from reaching the ocean.

Please join us in spreading the word and Helping Us Reach Our Goal of Protecting 200+ Nest this Season by Adopting a Nest Today!

2013 SEA TURTLE NESTS

Turtle Spotlight: Exciting Moves & Gertrude’s New Home!

February 11th was an exciting and busy day here at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium! Not only did many of our residents get re-located to different pools, but also one of our rehab turtles, Gertrude, was given a new home… in Kansas City!

The day began by pulling every one of our residents and giving them an annual physical. In the world of turtles, a physical means that the turtle has a full blood sample taken; they get weighed, and then measured before being returned to their pool (or before being put into their new pool!) it took approximately 3 hours to complete this process on each of our 9 resident sea turtles. We would like to thank our interns and the volunteers who came in very early that morning to assist with this project, because we would not have been able to complete this huge undertaking without all of you help.

While Titus, Cocoa, and our stubborn boy, Norman, remain at home in “Turtle Bayou”, Bailey has moved inside from “Sawyer’s Passage”, and is now sharing “Turtle Cove” with Stubby, Rob, and Cupid. Max, Madam, Molly, and Stumpy were relocated outside to “Sawyer’s Passage”, and they seem to be enjoying their new, larger pool!

February 11th was also a big day for Gertrude (October’s “Spotlight Turtle”) because she was picked up by staff members from Kansas City’s Sea Life Aquarium, where she was transported to become a permanent resident! Gertie is the state of Missouri’s FIRST sea turtle, and the staff at the Sea Life Aquarium is excited to have her, as we were to find her a new (and permanent!) home. We have been lucky enough to receive updates on Gertie’s progress (she was moved out of quarantine only 4 days after her arrival) and are happy to know she is in a beautiful exhibit, a very large pool filled with rocks and fish, and is in the hands of some excellent Sea Life Aquarium Staff members that will give her a great quality of life. While Gertie will be missed, she was a successful Clearwater Marine Aquarium rehabilitation story, with a great ending! Information about Gertie’s new home can be found on the Kansas City Sea Life Aquarium’s website, and footage documenting her travels can be found on YouTube!

“A sea turtle protection plan includes many popular South Florida beaches in the new critical habitat zone. The entire Palm Beach County coast will be part of the Loggerhead turtle protection zone if a US Fish and Wildlife Service proposal is approved. The northern section of the Broward County coastline is also inside the designated area.   The US Fish and Wildlife agency wants to make 739 miles of the coast from North Carolina to Mississippi a critical habitat area for the threatened species of sea turtles. Loggerhead turtles make annual pilgrimages to the area to lay their eggs.

The federal agency proposal unveiled on Friday include more than 40 beaches in Florida. The Canaveral National Seashore is also on the list of sea turtle critical habitat locations. The proposed habitat protection plan is not expected to have a negative impact on beachgoers. The US Fish and Wildlife proposal could potentially impact beach renourishment projects and the garnering of federal permits.   The coastal regions that have long been the nesting place for the Loggerhead turtles have changed significantly. Sea turtles have instinctively journeyed to the area for thousands of years. In 2012, more than 58,000 sea turtles nests were found o Florida beaches.   Sea turtles are among the most ancient creatures on Earth. A total of seven species still alive today have reportedly been swimming around the ocean for 110 million years.   Unlike tortoises and other species of turtles, sea turtles cannot retract their heads and legs into their shells.”

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