PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sea Turtle Nesting: A Late-Season Status Update

COTERC
/
Canadian Organization For Tropical Education and Rainforest Conservation

May 1 through Oct. 31 marks the official sea turtle nesting season on Florida beaches.  Threatened Loggerhead sea turtles are most prominent locally, although endangered Green and Leatherback sea turtles are also known to nest on local beaches.  Sea turtle monitoring efforts pointed to a robust and possibly record breaking nesting year, but recent high tides and stormy weather have washed out or threatened to flood nests here in Southwest Florida.  

We’ll get the latest numbers as we also explore the impact of Hurricane Hermine on nesting activity, when the storm made landfall last Friday morning in the Big Bend region.  We’ll also take a closer look at beach monitoring efforts aimed at keeping track of nesting activity, protecting nests and educating the public.

Guests:

Eve Haverfield, Founding Director of Turtle Time, Inc.

Maura Kraus, Principal Environmental Specialist and Sea Turtle Protection Program Coordinator for Collier County

Margaret Lamont, Research Biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Southeast Ecological Science Center