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Scientists say sea turtle conservation efforts are working

MOTE scientists say programs started more than 30 years ago are paying off in Tampa Bay.

TAMPA, Fla. — We’re six months into sea turtle nesting season, and experts say there have been an increase of the animal on Tampa Bay beaches in recent years.

Staff with Clearwater Marine Aquarium and MOTE Marine Laboratory are busy out on Tampa Bay’s beaches, watching for signs of sea turtle nests.

CMA says they’ve spotted around 75 so far, and MOTE says their beaches have seen about 1,600 so far this season.

"Last year was our record breaking year, but what’s really cool, is that, the past decade and past five years are all our other top years, so we’re still seeing really high numbers compared to five years ago, so that’s really exciting," Stephannie Kettle with MOTE Marine Laboratory said.

They say it takes sea turtles about 25 years to mature.

"We attribute our recent explosion to our protection efforts 25 years ago," she explained.

They say it’s hard to know if the beach closures this spring had anything to do with those numbers, since they weren’t closed very long in the nesting season, which the scientists at C-M-A agree with.

"If I had to hazard a guess, I would say it’s about the same as normal, people are back at the beach and we’re seeing what we typically see, people walking through nests," Lindsey Flynn with Clearwater Marine Aquarium said.

CMA says its too early in the season for them to judge if there will be more or fewer nests than normal on the beaches they patrol, but, they say if you see a sea turtle nest, give them a call, and don’t touch the turtles.

They say the biggest threat to the endangered species is non-sea-turtle friendly lights from people’s homes and businesses, which make the turtles go the wrong direction when they hatch.

They also still have an issue with people not filling in the holes in the sand after using beach chairs, which the baby turtles can then fall into.

Scientists say we mostly have loggerhead turtles here in Tampa Bay. They say all sea turtles are either threatened or endangered.

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