It’s another record-breaking year for sea turtle nesting in Palm Beach County.
MacArthur Beach State Park reported 1,173 green sea turtle nests as of Aug. 14, breaking the previous record of 926 nests set in 2007. According to a prepared statement, the total sea turtle nesting season record has been surpassed with 2,333 nests, breaking the previous record also set in 2007 of 2,142 nests. Also contributing to the count were 1,133 loggerhead sea turtle nests and 27 leatherback nests.
As of Aug. 15, Loggerhead Marinelife Center reported 6,307 loggerhead nests, 2,959 green turtle nests, and 100 leatherback nests. The Loggerhead Marinelife Center research teams monitor 9.8 miles of beach from Juno Beach to Tequesta.
Gumbo Limbo had 818 loggerhead nests, 298 green turtle nests, 12 leatherback nests and one hawksbill nest as of Aug. 15. The Gumbo Limbo Nature Center collects its data along a five-mile stretch of beach in Boca Raton.
Sea turtle nesting runs annually March through October. Every morning at MacArthur Beach State Park dedicated Park rangers and volunteers survey the beach to track and record the number of turtles that come ashore overnight. This year, in addition to the daily surveys, Park staff organized the inaugural Citizen Science Program called Leatherback Sea Turtle Nest Excavation. This involved a group of 20 citizen scientist volunteers who worked alongside MacArthur Beach State Park staff to excavate eight leatherback nests. Following the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) strict regulations and protocols on egg excavation, the citizen scientists hand dug into the nests until they reached the clutch. Once reached, they sorted the eggs into various groups determining nest productivity and hatchling success. As a result it is estimated there were 2,045 leatherback eggs laid on MacArthur Beach with 817 hatchlings produced.
“Our inaugural Citizen Science Project was a huge success,” says Ranger Scott Duncan, in the statement “mostly because of such passionate and dedicated volunteers! We hope to expand this excavation project in the future and also the Citizen Science Program to include other projects.”
MacArthur Beach State Park will be looking for more scientists for additional projects throughout the year including building a species inventory of the Park’s plants and animals and a bird BioBlitz. If you are interested, check www.macarthurbeach.org/citizen-science for upcoming projects .
https://palmbeach.floridaweekly.com/articles/record-numbers-of-turtles-nesting-on-palm-beach-county-beaches/