Game On For Loggerhead Nesting

After starting on schedule, loggerhead sea turtle nesting in Georgia is gaining steam as expected, with nests reported on most major barrier island beaches as of Monday.

Since the first two nests were found last week on St. Catherines Island and Cumberland Island National Seashore, about 35 more have been reported. Daily nest monitoring on all Georgia beaches starts in mid-May, state Sea Turtle Program Coordinator Mark Dodd said.

The big turtles’ annual return to lay eggs on beaches along the Southeast begins in early May “like clockwork,” said Dodd, a senior wildlife biologist with the Georgia DNR.

As for how this season will go for the state’s primary nesting sea turtle, that outlook is less predictable. Population modeling that shows nesting in the region following a three-year pattern pointed to a surge last summer. Instead, the nest total slid to 1,879, the fewest since the Georgia Sea Turtle Cooperative reported 4,071 loggerhead nests in 2022. The latter marked a record high since comprehensive surveys on all Georgia beaches began in 1989.

So while Dodd and many of his colleagues are bracing for an unusually busy nesting season, they’re also realistic. “Just when you think we have it figured out, the turtles go do something different,” he said.

PROMISING TREND

Although nest counts vary by season, the loggerhead population has been increasing at about 4 percent annually since the early 1990s. The model developed by DNR, the University of Georgia and the U.S. Geological Survey using nesting and genetics data indicates that while the population will plateau at current levels for more than a decade – thanks to low recruitment during the early 2000s – if current protections remain in place at least through that period, loggerhead numbers will then begin to grow again. At that point, the turtles could reach levels not seen since the late 1950s, Dodd said.

Two of the last four summers have exceeded the goal of 2,800 nests a year, a target set in the National Marine Fisheries Service/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recovery plan for the federally protected turtles. Helping loggerheads meet that goal is the focus of the Sea Turtle Cooperative. The DNR-coordinated network of some 200 volunteers, researchers and agency employees patrol beaches daily during nesting season. Working under a permit from DNR, members mark, monitor and protect loggerhead nests, plus those of other species that seldom nest in Georgia, such as green and Kemp’s ridley.

Cooperators collect data that is critical for analyzing loggerhead populations, assessing threats and informing management. The cooperative also helps with beach management, including curbing predators. The program has been in play on Georgia beaches for more than 30 years.

This work surveying each barrier island beach daily has helped empower the massive turtles’ slow progress toward recovery. “We started out averaging about 850 nests a year and in the last six years we’re just over 3,000 nests a year,” Dodd said.

NETWORK AT WORK

Like other marine turtles, loggerheads – named for their large heads – crawl ashore on barrier island beaches, dig a hole at the base of the dunes and lay their eggs, usually at night.

To prep for the season, Dodd and staff have been training interns, working with volunteers, partner agencies and organizations, moving equipment to barrier islands, and teaming with DNR’s Law Enforcement Division. Game wardens enforce regulations including the use of turtle excluder devices, or TEDs, in commercial shrimping.

The process followed Tuesday on Cumberland and St. Catherines will be repeated hundreds of times this year. One egg from each nest – which represents less than 1 percent of the average clutch size – is collected for UGA genetic analysis documenting the number and relatedness of loggerheads nesting in Georgia. Nests are then covered with a screen to protect the eggs from predators.

DNR’s Wildlife Conservation Section works to conserve sea turtles and other wildlife not legally fished for or hunted, as well as rare plants and natural habitats. The agency does this largely through public support from fundraisers, grants and contributions.

Key fundraisers include sales of the monarch butterfly license plates and sales and renewals of bald eagle plate and older designs, such as the ruby-throated hummingbird. These tags cost only $25 more than a standard plate to buy or renew. Up to $20 of that fee goes to help wildlife.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

All marine turtles in Georgia are protected by state and federal law. To help conserve these species:

• Minimize beachfront lighting during sea turtle nesting season. Turn off, shield and use turtle-friendly lighting.
• When walking the beach at night, don’t use flashlights and flash photography. The light can deter turtles from coming ashore to nest or cause them to abort nesting.
• If you encounter a sea turtle on the beach, remain quiet, still and at a distance.
• Leave turtle tracks undisturbed. Researchers use them to identify the species and mark nests for protection.
• Properly dispose of your garbage. Turtles may mistake plastic bags, Styrofoam and trash floating in the water as food. Ingesting trash can kill them by clogging their intestines.
• Protect beach vegetation: It stabilizes sand and the natural coastline.
• When boating, stay alert and avoid turtles. Of the 72 sea turtles found dead or hurt in Georgia last year, 24 percent that could be assessed had suffered injuries consistent with being hit by a boat. Boaters who hit a sea turtle are urged to stand-by and immediately call DNR at 800-2-SAVE-ME (800-272-8363).
• Also report any dead or injured sea turtles seen at 800-272-8363. (If the turtle is tagged, include the tag color and number in the report if possible.)

Sources: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Georgia DNR

ACCIDENTAL CATCHES

Anglers who hook or entangle a sea turtle should call DNR at 800-2-SAVE-ME (800-272-8363). Also:

• Keep your hands away from the turtle’s mouth and flippers.
• Safely land the turtle using a net or by walking it to shore. Do not lift the turtle by the hook or by pulling on the line.
• Leave the hook in place; removing it can cause more damage. (Anglers are encouraged to use non-stainless, barbless hooks when possible.)
• Keep the turtle out of direct sunlight and cover it with a damp towel.
• If an angler cannot reach DNR, cut the line as short as possible and release the turtle.

LOGGERHEADS AT A GLANCE

• Caretta caretta: Most common sea turtle on Georgia’s coast; found off coast year-round. Also one of the world’s largest turtles, topping 350 pounds and sporting a carapace up to 44 inches long. How long loggerheads live is not known.
• Range: The Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea. Nests in the U.S. from Virginia to Texas.
• Nesting: Females reach sexual maturity at 30-35 years. From about May through September, they crawl ashore at night, dig a hole in the face of dunes along barrier island beaches, and deposit and cover eggs.
• Pilgrimage: Eggs hatch in 55-65 days. The young scramble for the water, beginning a journey that can take them from sargassum weed off Georgia’s shores to a current-powered loop that circles to the Azores and the eastern Atlantic Ocean, south to west Africa and back to the western Atlantic.
• Eats: Fish eggs and small invertebrates when small. As adults, they eat mainly crabs and mollusks, but also forage items like jellyfish and dead fish.
• Status: Federally listed as threatened since 1978. Georgia DNR reclassified loggerheads in the state from threatened to endangered in 2006.
• Threats: Primarily mortality associated with commercial fishing activities, but also nest predation by raccoons, feral hogs and coyotes, poaching, loss of habitat, boat strikes, and even ingestion of plastic litter mistaken as food.

FOR MORE

Top: A stake and protective screen mark the season’s first nest on Cumberland Island (Patrick Helm/Cumberland National Seashore)

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