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Loggerhead Nesting Decline Continues

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 11, 2007

WEST PALM BEACH - The number of loggerhead turtle nests was lower in 2007 than in past years, according to preliminary numbers from scientists statewide.

Scientists found 28,500 nests on 26 surveyed beaches, down from about 31,000 last year. The number was so low that this could be the lowest nesting year on record for loggerheads, said Blair Witherington, a research scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The turtles' nesting numbers have declined in at least four of the past seven years.

But along the central portion of Florida's east coast known as the Treasure Coast, green and leatherback turtles, surpassed scientists' expectations and may have made a record number of nests this year.

Scientists aren't sure what's behind the low numbers for loggerheads. Biologist Erik Martin said the answer could lie in an unknown event that happened 30 years ago, when today's nesting females were hatchlings - something like a disease or harmful algae bloom that affected only loggerheads.

A drop in nesting numbers may not correlate to a drop in population, said Pete Quincy, a scientist who monitors nesting for Jupiter Island. "Maybe there is a biological cycle among these turtles that we know nothing about," he said.

The Associated Press

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