Storm hits turtles, but good egg count helps

Many of the underlying eggs may have drowned or washed away, experts say, a tough setback for a turtle season that had seen nests leap to roughly 3,300 in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties, compared with about 2,000 a year ago.

Despite the recent losses, experts say the 2008 turtle nesting season has been unexpectedly good.

"There was a strong trend down since 1998 so this summer was a wild card," said Wilma Katz, who helps coordinate turtle watch volunteers on Manasota Key in Englewood. "Regardless of whether the storm takes some nests out, the fact that we had a lot of nests to begin with gives us a lot of reason to hope."

And a significant number of eggs should still be alive in unmarked nests that had their protective signs wash off. Volunteers are working to remark nests and wildlife experts are asking beachgoers to tread carefully until the nesting season ends Oct. 31.

Turtle experts and volunteers such as Katz, who monitor nests on a daily basis, estimate that about half of the region's sea turtle nests hatched before Gustav blew in Sunday.

Of the remaining nests, experts say it is hard to know how many are still viable.

On Manatee County's beaches, for example, of the 85 nests that had yet to hatch in Bradenton Beach, Holmes Beach and Anna Maria, 41 were washed over or washed away.

In Sarasota County, 182 nests were washed over and 97 were washed away, meaning 25 percent of the 1,130 nests from Longboat Key to Caspersen Beach in Venice were disturbed. The figures were compiled Wednesday by Mote Marine Laboratory's Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program.

Nests that were washed over could still produce hatchlings, but if the turtles are buried under extra sand it could be difficult for them to dig out. Also, prolonged exposure to water destroys the embryos.

Suzi Fox, director of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch, said she is assuming every buried egg could still hatch.

After crying when she first saw the devastation Monday, Fox has resolved to do everything she can to protect the remaining eggs.

"We're not sure where they all are so people just need to be careful," Fox said. "We lost about half of the remaining nests but we have to look at it like our cup is still half full and rally harder because every one counts."

Beth Brost, a sea turtle expert with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, said sea turtles are resilient.

Eggs can survive some exposure to water, and hatchlings can dig through more sand than people might think, she said.

"Turtles have been around for a really long time," Brost said. "They've dealt with all kinds of storms."

Brost compiles the state's official turtle nesting counts. While the numbers will not be available for months, she said preliminary 2008 figures show an increase in nests along many beaches after prolonged decline and the worst year on record in 2007.

All sea turtles are either threatened or endangered.

"I don't want people to think they're recovering," Brost said. "But obviously any increase is significant."

Manasota Key, straddling Charlotte and Sarasota counties, has seen one of the largest increases, going from 1,159 nests last year to 2,060 so far this year, Katz said.

It is estimated that about one in 1,000 hatchlings survives to maturity.

Turtles have mostly stopped laying nests by now, but hatchlings will be found on the beach through October, because eggs take up to 60 days to hatch.