Hurricane Dorian washes out more than 8,000 sea turtle nests
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCF) - A survey completed by the University of Central Florida says at least 8,000 sea turtle nests washed away from Brevard County due to Hurricane Dorian.
Officials say the nests were from the Brevard County side of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, which extends from Southern Brevard County into Indian River County.
Researchers say it is one of the most important nesting grounds in Florida for threatened and endangered sea turtles.
UCF’s Marine Turtle Research Group has been monitoring the sea turtles on this beach and elsewhere on the Central Florida coast for decades.
Katrina Phillips, a doctoral candidate who is a senior member of the MTRG, said in a news release, “We’ve been out daily since the hurricane passed. Based on our surveys of the Brevard portion of the refuge we estimate that Dorian washed away about 20% of the loggerhead nests from this season and about 45% of green turtle nests from its season. That’s more than 8,000 nests.”
Phillips said the teams of students and scientists who have been conducting surveys on the beach saw green turtles laying eggs a day after Dorian passed and hatchlings heading into the sea have been observed as well.
By the numbers:
Leatherback turtles (endangered)
Nest from March-July
Nests before Dorian: 36
Estimated loss: 1
Loggerhead turtles (threatened)
Nests from April – September
Total nests before Dorian : 10,808
Estimated lost: 2,260
Green turtles (threatened)
Nest from May-October
Nests before Dorian: 15,305
Estimated lost to Dorian: 6,700
Research faculty and students are still conducting surveys through October and will report the final numbers to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and other agencies.