Wednesday, November 9, 2011
BOGUS INFORMATION - AT LEAST FOR OUR STRETCH OF THE BEACH!
An article in today's "St. Lucie News Tribune" (11/9/11) had the headline "Nesting turtles ride out waves, having a "fairly good year'". That's totally "bogus" relative to our stretch of beach and the number of nests that were able to hatch on our beaches! However, if you take the headline literally - it could be interpreted to mean that the sea turtles rode out the waves and stayed off of our beaches - because they couldn't get in to our beach to lay their nests because of the high escarpments blocking their access to the beach - and had a "fairly good year" because many of them probably ended up laying their nests on beaches much further to our south, where the nests were able to fully incubate and successfully hatch so that the hatchlings were able to reach the ocean. Not so up here near the Jetty! Check out the old photo that I took back in August and compare it with the recent photos in the newspaper. All photos vividly show how bad the beach erosion was all along our part of the coast - so severe that I would estimate that no sea turtle nests survived after early September. By August 16, using my calculations and observations, only 16 out of 73 of the sea turtle nests had hatched. By that time, as well, most of the remaining nests had been washed away or severely flooded out to the point that I called it the end of the season back at the end of August for all of our sea turtle nesting here on our mile or so of beach just south of the Jetty. When I got back in early October from a one month's vacation in September, I walked the beach several times and never saw any signs of nests, hatchlings or even exposed nests and eggs. Obviously, the newspaper article was discussing the nests to the extreme south in St. Lucie County and the northern reaches of Martin County and did not depict the very disastrous results on our part of the Atlantic beaches. I was glad to read, from their data and the "experts" that they contacted for the article, that the sea turtle nesting season was a "fairly good year", but that is definitely not the "whole story". The Army Corps of Engineers had better live up to their promises (and funding) and completely renourish this beach by next season or there will not even be a dune line for the sea turtles to nest in next year! Keep your fingers crossed for light winds and seas from a southeasterly direction during the winter, or we all may be seeking other "nesting sites" during the winter!
This is probably this writer's last blog on this site until, and if, the next sea turtle nesting season takes place on our shores. Best wishes to all of this blog's readers until we meet again!
Saturday, September 3, 2011
SEA TURTLE NESTING SEASON "WASHED OUT"!
This blogger will take a vacation for the remainder of September. However, as of today, the beaches in our area suffered severe wash-outs and wash-overs during the passing of the recent hurricane, Irene. Although the storm stayed hundreds of miles out to sea, her parallel course along the Florida east coast created heavy winds and waves, effectively washing out (or drowning) most of the sea turtle nests remaining on our stretch of beach. This writer will check the beaches again in October upon his return, but the prospects are dim - contrary to what the newspapers quoted several experts, including some from EAI, as saying about the damage further south along the county line. I don't hold out much hope for the nests that we were tracking to actually hatch, but it will be interesting to see how many may have survived. Good luck to us all!
The attached videos are of some of the last "hatchling stragglers" that this observer saw in August, just before the big "wash-out" discussed in the above paragraph. Mother Nature destroyed many of the nests that were ready for hatching in August but, fortunately, approximately 16 nests hatched along our stretch of beach in the months prior to the damaging storm waves, so at least a small portion of the nests completed their cycle.
Thanks for reading this blog for the first 3/4 of the "season". Best wishes to you all for a good September. See you in October!
Friday, August 26, 2011
STORM DEVASTATES SEA TURTLE NESTS!
Hurricane Irene destroyed most of the remaining sea turtle nests on our stretch of beach yesterday, last night and this morning, as the storm has now moved even in latitude to the border between Florida and Georgia. We really don't like to see sights like we found on the beach this morning, where sea turtle eggs are rolling around in the surf and laying where they had been deposited by the high waves and tides during the last 24 hours. The devastation of nests appears to be so bad, that I'm concerned that there may be none left untouched by the waves and wind. It's a very sad sight, since my calculations show that there were approximately 60 nests (7 marked by EAI and the other 50 + identified by me as "possible" nests). We had already documented that 16 nests had hatched previous to the storm, but there doesn't seem much hope that the remaining nests will have surived. We have at least one more exceptionaly high tide this evening, so I'll try to get out again tomorrow morning to see what may be left! This storm created real devastation in regard to the sea turtle nests along our coast!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
GREAT CAMOUFLAGE FOR A SPRINT TO THE OCEAN!
What great camouflage this little guy/gal had one early morning this week. In fact, it was too good, since we almost stepped on him/her before seeing some movement in the sand! The hatchling seemed to be a lone straggler, and was covered in sand because the sand was very wet from a previous night's rain. The sand apparently clung to him as he crawled out of the nest - more so than usual. In any case, he did make it to the ocean with some time and extra effort. It's especially dangerous for hatchlings to emerge from their nest during daylight hours, because they are then subject to being eaten by birds, raccoons and crabs on land and by fish once they reach the water. Not good timing, but at least this one had a head start by at least reaching the water! If you click on the photo in the blog, I believe that it will enlarge the photo for you to see how nicely camouflaged he is.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
DELAYED REPORT ON TURTLE NESTING AND HATCHINGS
Lots has happened in the last few weeks during my absence from the area for a family reunion up north. Many more nests appear to have been laid and several have hatched. The video within this blog entry shows one guy/gal that got a slow start and was out in the sun early in the morning. As you can see by the video, he made it safely to the ocean. That's the type of ending that we like to see in our movies!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
ONLY FIREWORKS POPPED ON THE BEACH THIS 4TH OF JULY
We had a few more "crawls" this past week, but no nests that hatched - at least as far as this observer could tell. The attached "turtle nest map" of our section of the beach shows that, by my count, we have 3 hatched nests, 36 possible remaining nests (only "crawls" were noted, no stakes and surrounding ribbon was used by EAI to identify them as "official" nests), and 3 documented nests remaining, for a total of, possibly, 42 nests along our stretch of beach. Since EAI only stakes out 1 out of every 24 nests along our section of beach, the numbers are just a "guesstimate" at this time in the season.
While the "News Tribune" recently quoted the EAI scientists as indicating that the "sea turtle nesting numbers" were "starting to heat up", our section of the beach is still encountering some problems because of the severe escarpments just south of the jetty and generally poor beach conditions south on the beach for a least 3/4 of a mile. But, the beach is smoothing out along the southern portion of our section of beach, so we will look forward to seeing increasing numbers of nests being laid in the months to come.
The EAI records show that our extended area of beaches in the southern half of Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie and Martin counties (including Jupiter Island) now has 3,192 Loggerhead nests, compared to 5,616 in all of 2010; 185 Green Sea Turtles so far this year, compared to 840 all last year; and 478 Leatherbacks in comparison to a 2010 total of 414. Looks like we may very well surpass the totals for last year - at least in those areas, and maybe even in this stretch of beach. Last year, as of October 1, 2010, this blogger's records show that we had a total of 40 nests that had been identified. Of those, 16 hatched; 20 were destroyed by storms and waves, 3 remained as "possible nests" and one had not hatched as of that date. Maybe we're on track for a relatively good year, but it is hard to tell when EAI doesn't mark each and every nest that is laid on our beaches. Only the EAI scientists and assistants are allowed to dig into a suspected nest to determine if eggs were actually laid in those nests. This blogger can only guess, based on the turtle tracks to and from the ocean, and the amount of sand that was disturbed where the suspected nest may be, as to whether there really are eggs in those "nests". Oh well, that's half of the fun - to see which ones actually hatch and prove - or disprove - our suspicions!
While the "News Tribune" recently quoted the EAI scientists as indicating that the "sea turtle nesting numbers" were "starting to heat up", our section of the beach is still encountering some problems because of the severe escarpments just south of the jetty and generally poor beach conditions south on the beach for a least 3/4 of a mile. But, the beach is smoothing out along the southern portion of our section of beach, so we will look forward to seeing increasing numbers of nests being laid in the months to come.
The EAI records show that our extended area of beaches in the southern half of Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie and Martin counties (including Jupiter Island) now has 3,192 Loggerhead nests, compared to 5,616 in all of 2010; 185 Green Sea Turtles so far this year, compared to 840 all last year; and 478 Leatherbacks in comparison to a 2010 total of 414. Looks like we may very well surpass the totals for last year - at least in those areas, and maybe even in this stretch of beach. Last year, as of October 1, 2010, this blogger's records show that we had a total of 40 nests that had been identified. Of those, 16 hatched; 20 were destroyed by storms and waves, 3 remained as "possible nests" and one had not hatched as of that date. Maybe we're on track for a relatively good year, but it is hard to tell when EAI doesn't mark each and every nest that is laid on our beaches. Only the EAI scientists and assistants are allowed to dig into a suspected nest to determine if eggs were actually laid in those nests. This blogger can only guess, based on the turtle tracks to and from the ocean, and the amount of sand that was disturbed where the suspected nest may be, as to whether there really are eggs in those "nests". Oh well, that's half of the fun - to see which ones actually hatch and prove - or disprove - our suspicions!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
PRESENTING: HATCHED TURTLE NEST TCC428 ON 6/26/11
The first sea turtle nest of the season on our stretch of beach hatched last night. The video shows one "straggler" who was still in transit around 6:30 a.m. this morning. It appeared as though at least 10 others had recently made the trip, as well, since there were about that many tracks coming from the nest and ending up down by the water's edge. Bon Voyage little guy/girl! Hope to see you back on our beaches in about 20 years!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
SUMMER BEGINS!
The first week of summer began with only a couple of possible new nests detected. The map now shows 32 nests - 26 as "possible nests", and 6 as "officially marked" nests. One of the marked nests (TCC428) was due to hatch this past week but, so far, no hatchlings have appeared. I'll need to go out tomorrow to double-check that nest. Another one (TDC502) is due to hatch this week, as well, so we may have some action in a few days. I hope that several of these "official marked nests" will hatch prior to any summer storms that may damage or destroy them, since they are all rather close to the high tide level.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
A WHALE OF A DAY!
Finding sea turtle nests has been quite slow these past few weeks, but it was a very big week for beach walkers on Thursday morning. Unfortunatly, I had to drop off a car for maintenance that morning, so I did not walk the beach early in the morning as I normally would do. However, one of my condo neighbors called me to ask if I was on the beach, and if not, would I please take some photos of a dead whale that had been beached directly across from our building. I came back to the island and immediately parked in the public park across from our building. When I got to the top of the dune line I saw a very large dead whale laying on the beach at what was then low tide (see photos). After taking some photos, I asked the EAI field biologist who had found and "staked off" the area around the whale some questions about the whale. He didn't know the variety of whale that we were viewing, but thought that it had died of causes unknown - even though there were what appeared to be several large "bite marks" out of the whale's mid-section and tail. He said that sharks probably took those bites after the whale had died of other causes. He had measured the whale to be about 14 feet long, probably weighing from "1,200 to 1,400 pounds". He had called in his early morning find to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission after staking out the area around the carcass with bright orange tape usually used to stake out the sea turtle nests.
Later in the day, several organizations, including Harbor Branch of Fort Pierce, and Hubbs-SeaWorld Institute of Melbourne Beach were on site as a crew with a front-end loader pulled the whale up on the beach, then picked it up and traveled to the highway with it cradled in the front claw where it was deposited it in a large truck bed. The Fort Pierce Treasure Coast Newspaper on Friday reported (along with a photo of the dead whale) that "Blair Mase, marine mammal stranding coordinator for NOAA's southeast region in St. Petersburg, said that the necropsy will 'help establish some baseline information about beaked whales. We know so little about them because they're such an evasive, deep-water species'", he said. Later on in the day, the same neighbor that had alerted me to the whale's beaching received some additional information from a friend who had done some research on the beaked whale and found that they were, indeed, very rare. Here's a portion of that e-mail to my neighbor:
1. There are 23 different types of 'beaked' whales, but only four of them have been observed alive. The other 19 varieties are known only from found partial remains or fossils.
2. Of the 23 varieties, they range in adult growth from the full grown small variety being 13 feet up to the giant of the species with a length of 43 feet.
3. These whales have been around for many thousands of years.
4. Fossils have been found in South Africa.
5. Each variety has a different name.
6. Beaked whales have a life span that averages 25 - 40 years.
7. They primarily live in very deep waters off the continental shelf. They are very deep diving and feeding whales. They eat mostly squid and crustaceans by sucking in their prey and swallowing it whole.
Unfortunately, the EAI biologist also said that he had found a dead Loggerhead adult turtle further south on the beach and had buried it. It appears that conditions were very tough for some of our sea-going friends this past week, so we'll hope for better luck and more sea turtle nests next week!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
ONE DOZEN AND COUNTING!
We have reached the one dozen level of sea turtle nests as of June 1, 2011 on our stretch of beach. Three of those nests are "documented" and "staked and roped off" by EAI (see red "T" pins on map). The other 9 are recorded by this writer (see yellow "star" pins on map). The yellow pins designate only that a "turtle crawl" was observed and that it was possible that a nest was laid. The red pins indicate that EAI has explored the nest and has determined that eggs were actually laid and the type of sea turtle that laid the eggs. For instance, a "CC" on the stakes indicates a Loggerhead sea turtle nest. A "DC" on the stakes indicates that a Leatherback sea turtle made the nest. The incubation period for both types of turtle eggs is generally between 45-60 days, so when you view the chart that is included in this posting, you will see that we have projected when the eggs will hatch for each of the twelve nests recorded so far.
Friday, May 20, 2011
"REJOICING" IN SAND!
Yes, it official! County officials and residents "rejoiced" because of an announcement by U.S. Representative Rooney on Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers will, according to an article in the "St. Lucie News Tribune" on Thursday, May 19, 2011, spend "$6.1 million to renourish Fort Pierce Beaches". As you may remember, the erosion of our stretch of beach was of major concern to this writer at the beginning of this turtle nesting season, since severe erosion and huge "escarpments" along our beaches (see previous blog entries) were restricting sea turtle access to our beaches. Unfortunately, the above described renourishment efforts can't begin until after this turtle nesting season has ended, but such an effort in between nesting seasons will drastically improve the beaches for the next turtle nesting season beginning in March/April of next year. Congratulations to Rep. Tom Rooney for taking up the cause and getting the Army Corps of Engineers to expend the dollars that were supposed to have been expended on beach renourishment this year anyway. Our thanks to Rep. Rooney for his part in getting some action relative to this problem.
Obviously, this project wasn't only critical to our nesting sea turtles. Probably more important in many minds was the adverse impact that not renourishing the beaches would have on our local economy. We do have a "tourist season", as well, and if that was the main consideration for getting renourishment money for our beaches, so be it! I'm sure that the "tourist dollar", and protecting public and private property along that stretch of beach were the prime factors but, at least, the sea turtles and their future nests and hatchlings will benefit along with the tourists.
Speaking of sea turtle nests, we now have 6 nests by my count. One is definitely a nest, as officially marked by the EAI, but the other 5 are only "turtle crawls" that appear to have nests that were laid closer to the dune line (sea oats, sea grasses, etc.). I'm going to keep track of those this year, again, because EAI is only marking "one out of every so many" - I'm guessing 1 out of 24 this year. So.... I will attempt to keep track of those "suspected" sea turtle nests, even though EAI is not. The attached map shows where the nests are to date along our stretch of beach. Wish us well for the remainder of the season!
Monday, May 2, 2011
FIRST SEA TURTLE NEST OF THE 2011 SEASON
Today was a big day in the scope of this 2011 sea turtle nesting season - at least for this stretch of "eroded and escarped" beach! Yes, as of 4/28/11, EAI (Environmental Associates, Inc.) has officially marked one nest along our section of beach (see attached photo). It was "posted and taped" as being laid on 4/28/11 and labeled as "CC 4/28" - meaning that they believe the nest was laid on 4/28/11 and is a "CC", or "loggerhead" nest. We found one other set of fresh "turtle crawl tracks", but that one was not officially staked out as was the first one. However, they did pound in a stake up on the dune line with the notation of "DC 5/2 to indicate that they believed this "nest" was a Leatherback nest laid on 5/2/11. Unfortunately, both nests were below the "escarpments" on the beach at those locations and probably won't provide much safety in case of additional storms and wave action along the beach throughout the summer. Also, it is obvious that EAI is not going to "stake out" (placing stakes and bright tape around the nest to outline the location of the nest) all nests that they find this season, so it will be up to us Turtle Dads to try to list all that they find, plus the ones that we find as a result of "crawls" and/or other signs that a nest has been laid. Hopefully, even though EAI will not stake out each and every nest that they find, we hope that they will at least do as they did with today's new nest and at least place a stake up near the dune line to indicate that they believe that a nest was laid somewhere between the ocean and that stake on the dune line. That might be enough to ensure the safety of some nests from human-made disturbance or destruction, even though it won't do much to protect the nests from Mother Nature.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
SEMI-RENOURISHED BEACH & "TRASHY PHOTOS"
The "renourishment" project that the county took on all by itself, because the federal and state governments reneged on their obligation to pay for beach renourishment throughout the state this year, is completed and appears to have salvaged at least about 1700' of the beach running south of the jetty. While the renourishment has saved a good part of the city beach property and some private property immediately south of the jetty, it stopped too short to save any of the rest of the mile or so of beach and beach dune grasses running south beyond that portion that was renourished. To date, this Turtle Dad has not seen any nests since the beginning of the sea turtle nesting season (March/April) on any part of the entire beach running for a approximately one mile immediately south of the jetty. It appears that it will be a very sparse year for turtle nesting and hatching on our section of the south beach area.
Further south of the 1700 ' of beach that was just renourished, is the remainder of a mile or so of beach that has been severely eroded, to the extent that there are still some very steep "escarpments" on that portion of beach that will continue to obstruct sea turtles from advancing far enough onshore to lay their eggs. Many of these escarpments have been leveled somewhat, so there is still some hope that, eventually, some sea turtles will be able to crawl up on the beach far enough over the escarpments to actually dig their nests and lay their eggs. So far, the score is zero!
The good news is that there appears to be other people that walk the beach, in addition to this Turtle Dad, who are helping to keep the beach somewhat free of "litter". I know that you are expecting to see some photos of sea turtles and nests when you read this blog, but all I have to offer this time are some photos of the "semi-renourished" beach and some "trashy photos" showing that there are still some concientious beach walkers who try to keep the beach and surrounding environment "cleaned-up" after some less-than conscientious beach goers have left their trash on the public beaches. Thanks to those that are "pitching-in" to help keep the beaches litter-free!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Beach Renourishment(?)
An "emergency" beach renourishment project was begun last week, as reported in an article in the St. Lucie News Tribune (4/7/2011), and as witnessed by this blogger this morning during a beach walk. Apparently, the only government to step up to the plate was St. Lucie County. Kudos to Jim David and the St. Lucie County Erosion District for honoring the county's committment to our beach renourishment! Unfortunately, both the federal and state governments decided to pass on their responsibility, citing "budget issues". Once the federal government declined to honor it's obligation, the state decided to withhold the "matching funds" that it was to contribute to the project. As per a previous agreement (reported in the article) between the county, state and federal governments to fund beach renourishment south of the inlet every two years, 2011 was the year that money was to be expended to once again renourish the beach. Since the federal and state governments bailed out on the project, the county was left as the only government entity of the three to fund the project. As the newspaper article went on to explain, "without the federal and state money ... the project had to be scaled back dramatically". Instead of pumping more than a half million yards of sand onto the beach, running about a mile south from the jetty if the federal and state monies were included, the county can only afford to haul and dump enough sand to cover about 1/3 mile of the shoreline immediately south of the jetty. That may be enough to salvage the city property and some of the dune grasses (planted several years ago) near the jetty, but it will do little to provide an acceptable beach for property owners, tourists and sea turtles beyond that point. As mentioned in a previous blog, this will not be a good year for sea turtle nesting on our section of beach!
The included photos show the area of the beach renourishment and some of the progress to date. Note that the ocean has already eroded the sand up to, and including, the dune grasses. Most of the dune and grasses in the stretch of beach beyond that first 1/3 mile south of the jetty will be eroded away by the end of the season, and most of those areas of the beach will be inaccessible by the sea turtles throughout the entire egg laying season. We don't even have to blame "climate" this time, since this is a man-made "disaster".
Thursday, March 24, 2011
GREEN TURTLE'S DEMISE
This is not how we wanted to find the first sea turtle of the season on our stretch of beach. The unfortunate Green Sea Turtle, apparently about 6 or 7 years old according to an expert, was washed up dead on shore near the Jetty. The young lady from EAI (Environmental Associates, Inc.) guessed its age and reason for it's demise. She thought that it might be diseased with some possible internal problems, since there were no shark teeth marks or other evidence of damage to the body or shell. It seemed very "thin" on the neck and upper shoulder area, possibly indicating that it was starving - either from lack of food or because of some stomach and/or intestinal problems that kept it from eating and digesting its food. Some sea turtles die because they ingest plastic bags or ballons and that keeps them from being able to ingest and pass food through the stomach and intestines, thereby killing them. It behooves all of us to be sure that our garbage, including all types of plastic, gets in the appropriate garbage bins or dumpsters and not in the ocean and on our beaches! The EAI worker was going to take the turtle back to their facility to research the reason for its death.
We very rarely find a Green Turtle Sea Turtle nest on our stretch of beach. In any case, this turtle was probably too young to nest, and would have been unable to climb up to a safe location on the beach to nest because of the severe erosion near the Jetty and the 6-7 foot escarpments blocking its way. We'll hope for better conditions and results as the season progresses - and that people will place their garbage in the appropriate receptacle.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Governor Scott "Deep Sixes" Beach Renourishment
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, according to a March 13, 2011 article in the "St. Lucie News Tribune", cut out new state funding for beach renourishment in his budget. By doing so, his actions will ensure that many millions of dollars in federal funds (matching funds) will be cut, as well. So much for jobs, tourism and sea turtle nesting along our beaches this year! Bad decision! But that is not the first bad decision for this new governor. Remember his refusal of $2.5 billion in federal funds for the high speed rail project? The above referenced article also indicates that even though 35 of 67 counties have used these combined monies in the past to renourish their beaches, and even though communities have requested $101 million in renourishment money this year, the governor's proposed budget for next year "includes no money for repairing any of Florida's 825 miles of sandy beaches". Doesn't that strike a serious blow to tourism in this state, let alone signing the "death warrant" for many public and private property owners - some being our own city and county? A study in 2003 by FAU, according to the article, "found that each state dollar spent protecting Florida's beaches that have public access prevents the loss of $8 in state taxes paid by out-of-state tourists and resident users of those beaches". Some things (actually many things) just don't "add up" in this governor's proposed budget, and this one (lack of beach renourishment funding) will prove to be a very damaging bad decision for this area - and for the state!
Thursday, March 10, 2011
SEA TURTLE NESTING A "WASH" THIS SEASON
The sea turtle nesting season will most likely be a "wash" this season, mainly because the severe erosion along our section of beach is a critical factor in impeding turtles from crawling up on the beach to lay their eggs. Note the approximately 6 foot "escarpment" in the photo below. By my estimate, approximately 30 yards of beach has been eroded by several years of storms and storm waves since the last "beach renourishment". Thats probably hundreds of cubic yards in and area measuring just one yard wide times 30 yards from the sea grass line out to where the coast used to be before all of the erosion. There is very little chance of any nesting taking place here, or even for about 1 mile south of our Jetty. That's why I'm guessing that the sea turtle nesting is a "wash" this season! The beach has literally been washed out! Unless the Army Corps of Engineers, state, county and city leaders start the process to get the monies needed to replenish this stretch of beach, not only will we not see any turtle nesting along our shores but, just as critically, much of the recently replenished sea grasses (see on top of the escarpment) will be washed away as well. That's not even considering the tremendous property damage that will be done to private (and city) properties along the beach. They may think that they have waited too long to get it done this year, but it should start immediately since, if nothing is done, there won't be any need to worry about any sea turtle nests with eggs along our section of beach this year anyway! The only critters along the beach this morning were hundreds of stinging jellyfish, sometimes called "Man-of-War", I believe. The strong easterly and north-easterly winds these past few weeks have not only added to our beach erosion, but have driven these jellyfish up on our shores. The winds were so strong and the wave action so heavy that the jellyfish were being blown up and over the escarpments. There were so many of them, and it continued to be so windy, that I didn't even try to get them back in the water. Besides, the little blue tentacle that you see at one end of the jellyfish in the photo below can inflict a very severe sting on those swimming in the ocean, or even if you come into skin contact with them while on the beach. I believe that their stingers are used to sting and capture food while they are floating in the ocean.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Escarpments as Impediments
Here are the "escarpments" that this writer mentioned in a previous blog entry. This particular area probably had 5' - 6' escarpment heights - more than enough to discourage any sea turtle nesting and egg-laying in this stretch of the beach. The escarpments further north toward the Jetty were even more severe.
In addition, the beach erosion was now all the way up to the sea oats along the dune line from the spot shown in the photo at the top of this entry all the way to the Jetty - probably 1/2 of a mile. Unless some major "beach renourishment" takes place soon, there will be no sea turtle nesting this season from the Jetty on down for about one mile south of the Jetty! Obviously, this writer hasn't found any sea turtle nests yet, but there may be some hope for finding a few nests further south where the escarpments are only 1' - 2' in height. Usually, we find Leatherback nests first, with the Loggerhead nests arriving a month or so later.
In addition, the beach erosion was now all the way up to the sea oats along the dune line from the spot shown in the photo at the top of this entry all the way to the Jetty - probably 1/2 of a mile. Unless some major "beach renourishment" takes place soon, there will be no sea turtle nesting this season from the Jetty on down for about one mile south of the Jetty! Obviously, this writer hasn't found any sea turtle nests yet, but there may be some hope for finding a few nests further south where the escarpments are only 1' - 2' in height. Usually, we find Leatherback nests first, with the Loggerhead nests arriving a month or so later.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
THEY'RE BACK!
If you didn't recognize this photo of a female Loggerhead coming up on the beach to lay her eggs, it's because you haven't been a reader of this blog in past years. Yes, it's the same photo that I used in a couple of blogs in past years (it really was on our beach!), but that's because it was one of the best photos of an adult female Loggerhead that we have been fortunate enough to get locally. It can be credited to a visitor from the north who was out on the beach at the right time a couple of years ago. While it's not advisable to take photos of turtles on the beach at night - it distracts them and disorients them when the are attempting to get up on the beach to lay their eggs, it must be remembered that it is illegal to interfere with them (touch or disturb them, the nest or the eggs they are laying) anytime that they are on the beach. In addition, if you see anyone doing that, please contact 911 and ask that they connect you with some agency (marine patrol, etc.) that can help deter the criminal activity.
Once again this year, we are encountering "escarpments" along our section of the beach that are sure to deter, to some degree, any sea turtles from gaining easy access to the beach in order to lay their eggs. Our local governments and the Army Corps of Engineers have yet to find the funds to "renourish" these beaches and the quantity of sea turtles that will be able to dig nests and lay eggs will be severely curtailed, in this writer's estimation. Speaking of estimations, I estimated as of the last entry in this blog as of October, 2010, that the season ending in October of that year produced only 16 hatched nests, while 20 were destroyed by wave/storm action. As you may remember, I could only "document" about 40 nests, mainly because the organization (Environmental Associates, Inc. - EAI) that was charged with locating and identifying sea turtle nests up and down our portion of the coast, only "staked-out" (encircled the new nests with stakes and bright colored plastic ribbon) approximately one out of every 24, or some such fraction of the nests, thereof. While their statistics published in the newspaper (Scripps Treasure Coast Newspaper, 11/29/10) at the end of last season indicated that they recorded an increase of sea turtle nests during that season, I would dispute their actual numbers as any reflection of the total nests laid along our stretch of beach. As had been indicated in this blog site last season, the combination of severe 6' & 7' escarpments along our beach, and the severe wave erosion along this section of beach, made for a "poor" year of nesting, as far as I could determine. We'll hope for a better year, even though we are starting out the season with escarpments stretching from the Jetty down almost a couple of miles south on the beach. Keep your fingers crossed for good weather and the eventual "renourishment" of the beach for the benefit of our sea turtles. Welcome back to the turtles and welcome back to those of you reading this blog!
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