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Comments(0) | Florida turtle population may see a boost, thanks to the pandemic.
According to Sea Turtle Conservancy, approximately 90 percent of sea turtle nesting in the U.S. happens on Florida’s beaches. Each year, thousands of sea turtle mothers dig into the sand to lay their eggs, and then return to the sea.
Florida’s nesting season for turtles runs from March through October, the sands are normally filled with humans. However, this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, severely curtailed travel and some beaches had to close their beaches for weeks.
Scientists believe that there have been far more successful turtle nesting this year, due to the fact that people weren’t on the beach to mess with turtles. “We actually did find a significant difference during the beach closures and then after in terms of a successful rate of nesting,” says Justin Perrault, director of research for the Loggerhead Marinelife Center.
Loggerhead Marinelife Center, also observed approximately 17,000 nests along Juno, Jupiter-Carlin and Tequesta beaches this year. They reported a 62 percent successful nesting rate for turtles during the time the beaches were closed. When the beaches reopened that number dropped to 46 percent.