Sea turtle lovers have reason to “shell-a-brate” as the number of sea turtle nests along Brevard County has already eclipsed last year at this time.
Created to protect the most significant Loggerhead turtle nesting area in the world – and the most significant for the green turtle in North America – the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge spans 20.5 miles along Brevard and Indian River counties, and mid-season numbers are looking good.
According to Dr. Kate Mansfield, director of the UCF Marine Turtle Research Group, which studies and tracks sea turtle nests in the Brevard County portion of the refuge, Green Turtle nests are abundant, with 1,100 nests as of June 15 – 10 times as many nests as last year. Loggerhead nests are also up from 3,825 last June, to 4,914 so far, and the number of leatherback nests has more than doubled from 11 to 30. There is also one Kemp’s Ridley nest. Mansfield said they’ve seen an increase in females, but still know very little about the males.
In an effort to learn more, they are satellite tagging males who come ashore during mating, to allow tracking.
Mansfield and her group began tracking sea turtle nests at the refuge on May 4, when they documented 10 leatherbacks, 259 loggerhead nests, and one Kemps Ridley nest. On May 11, her group noted the earliest green turtle nest since 1982.
