There is some excellent news from the Georgia DNR regarding Loggerhead turtles along the Georgia Coast - From the GA DNR:
Summer 2012 has been a blockbuster for loggerheads in Georgia.
After recording the second-earliest nesting start on record, these large sea turtles listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act recently passed the 2,000 nests mark, the most since comprehensive surveys began in 1989. The count as of July 30 was 2,045.
The federal recovery target for Georgia’s primary sea turtle is 2,800 nests a year, said DNR Sea Turtle Program Coordinator Mark Dodd. But 2K is a benchmark, particularly when coupled with last year’s 1,992 nests – the previous record – and a longer-term trend of nesting increases that suggests the species is recovering.
“It’s significant in that for the last 25 years loggerheads have averaged around 1,000 nests a year (in Georgia),” said Dodd, a senior wildlife biologist with DNR’s Nongame Conservation Section. “To be at 2,000 two years in a row is pretty exciting.”
Loggerheads began nesting in late April and will continue into mid-August. Females are laying eggs at the base of barrier island sand dunes even as hatchlings dig out of older nests and scramble for the surf (update below).
Dodd said the rise in nests is likely due to many factors, including fewer turtle deaths as a commercial fisheries bycatch on the high seas; the required use of turtle excluder devices for shrimp trawling; limits on beach lighting that can disorient hatchling turtles; and, the Sea Turtle Cooperative’s 24/7 work to increase hatch success by protecting nests and controlling predators.
Before comprehensive protection began, “some beaches lost 90 percent of nests to hogs and raccoons,” Dodd said. (Read more about threats to sea turtles.)
The scope of conserving the turtles ranges deep and wide, and involves many partners. In this, Dodd sees a lesson:
If species like loggerheads – long-lived, delayed sexual maturity, less ability to rebound quickly – reach a point of critical imperilment, recovery takes a lot of effort, time and money.
Yet, with long-term commitment, recovery is possible.
For the sea turtles named for their big heads, the combination is apparently working. Dodd will have a better idea how well once he has all nesting data for the season.
The summer’s first loggerhead hatchlings were reported July 8 on both Sea and Cumberland islands. Dodd said previous cool, rainy weather delayed hatching. The first hatchlings emerged in 74 to 75 days, and most were males (sand temperatures determine the sex of hatchlings). With the recent return of hotter, drier weather, nest incubation periods are nearing the expected average of 60 days. Hatching season runs from July through mid-September in Georgia.
I read an about an interesting fact from a book by Georgia author Pamela Mueller, "Splendid Isolation: The Jekyll Island Millionaires' Club 1888 - 1942" She relates that Loggerhead turtle eggs were a frequent meal at the Jekyll Island Club back in the early days. At one point, an employee of the Club was murdered after he encountered a poacher on the island who pulled a gun and shot him dead. The alleged poacher was eventually acquitted by a Brunswick jury. Most recently in June, a convicted felon, with a gun, was captured by Georgia DNR after raiding turtle nests and trying to escape with 156 sea turtle eggs from Sapelo Island. Sea turtle eggs are prized by some as a purported aphrodisiac and a food delicacy. But loggerheads in Georgia are a threatened species, protected as are all sea turtle species by both state law and the federal Endangered Species Act. Potential penalties for a person possessing their eggs include up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine.
If you are interested in reading any of Pamela's books, here is a link to her website. I've met her on several occasions and she is a delightful person and loves talking about her books.
Jekyll Island Sea Turtle Center: www.georgiaseaturtlecenter.org/
Jeff Williams, Realtor
Coastal Georgia Real Estate Associates
912-270-0032
Coastal Georgia Real Estate Associates
912-270-0032
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