Conservationist witnesses wonder of sea turtles in Brevard | Opinion – Florida Today

Luke Strominger| Guest columnist

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One night on a moonlit beach, I witnessed a natural wonder that I will not soon forget, as aloggerhead turtle made her way from the Atlantic Ocean to lay eggs in the sandy dunes of Canaveral National Seashore.

This incredible experience was made possible by the Seashores Turtle Watch program. We gathered at dusk in the parks visitor center, where a ranger gave a presentation about these magnificent animals and ongoing conservation efforts by the park service to protect them. All of us then eagerly awaited a call from scouts scouring the beach to say they found a nesting turtle.

The turtle, who we named Aria, paced along the dunes until she found a spot in the sand that was just right. We were guided to Aria while walking along the dark beach, illuminated only by the moon and our red flashlights so as to not disturb the turtle when she was making her nest.

As we slowly approachedher, she began laying eggs in a trance-like state, solely focused on laying all of them. The park ranger told us they operate mainly by instinct. We were shown a sea turtles skull earlier that evening and saw the very small slot where the brain had been.

We stood in awe around Aria as she laid approximately 100 eggs, watching each contraction as she raised her back flippers and dropped eggs into the nest. After time passed, we quietly followed her as she went back into the ocean.

I will remember this excursion for a long time to come not only because it taught me more about sea turtles, but I was also able to better understand the Seashores environment, and the ecosystem-wide issues facing the turtles.

One such issue is that turtles gender is determined by temperature. As the ranger said, warm sand brings hot chicks and cold sand brings cool dudes. With the warming climate, there is concern that more females will be born, causing an imbalance in population numbers.

So far though, thanks to the park's conservation efforts, nesting numbers have thrived. Canaveral National Seashore is 24 miles long, the longest stretch of undeveloped land along Floridas east coast. Thousands of sea turtle nests have been recorded here since 1985. The nesting season runs from April to October, with most loggerheads nesting between May and August. As I write this, there have been 7,333 nests recorded at the Seashore this season, 5,124 of which have been loggerheads like Aria.

Prior to human intervention, about 98% of the nests succumbed to predation by raccoons. For a period of time, the park placed wire frames over nests to prevent them from reaching the eggs. As a result, 80% of the nests survived. Raccoons also consume ghost crabs, another predator, so maintaining a balanced ecosystem is important. Currently, wild pigs are the biggest threat to the turtle nests.

Without the Turtle-Watch program I would have never known the complex variety of threats and management efforts targeting sea turtles at Canaveral. Participating in events like these helps everyday peoplelike me become educated about how our actions impact these animals, and ways we can help at the local level.

One quick step that goes a long way in protecting turtles is making sure to clearyour sand castles and filling in holes youve dug before leaving the beach. Nesting turtles and hatchlings are at risk of getting trapped in these structures and dying as a result. This has been exacerbated by a recent TikTok challenge encouraging users to dig deep holes.

After seeing Aria lay her eggs, I hope to one day witness a nest "erupting"with hatchlings and guide them to the ocean. Only one out of 1,0 turtles reach adulthood. Therefore, it's important we protect these incredible animals through effective local action and continue to stay educated about them.

Luke Strominger is a Florida native and member of the American Conservation Coalition.

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Conservationist witnesses wonder of sea turtles in Brevard | Opinion - Florida Today