Nesting Sea Turtles and Florida Rainy Season

June is the start of the rainy season in Florida, and in the last week alone, Marco has had its share of heavy afternoon rain and thunderstorms. Sea turtle season (May-October) overlaps with Florida’s hurricane season (June through November). Hurricane season can wreak havoc on sea turtle habitats and nests according to Maia McGuire, UF/IFAS, but other factors raise even greater concerns for the loggerheads such as coastal development.  

According to Maia McGuire, UF/IFAS, the female turtles lay their nests high up on the beach, above the high tide mark. This usually means that the nest will not flood at the high tide mark. However, hurricanes and storms can impact these nests in two ways: storms may push sea water higher up on the beach than normal, or strong wave action can also cause beaches to erode, washing sand away, exposing sea turtle eggs, leaving them prone to drying out or predation. They can also destroy the nests, completely washing the eggs into the sea where they will drown. 

The newly completed berm project on Sand Dollar Island is one such project that is presenting challenges to nesting sea turtles. On a recent visit to the Sand Dollar berm, I observed several sea turtle nests located at the bottom of the berm and some nests on top of the berm. Other nests were precariously located on the steep slope, and there was a false crawl on top of the berm.