Sea turtle nesting season cut short in Pinellas County after Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton

Turtle nesting season ends

FOX 13's Kailey Tracey reports on turtle nestling season coming to an abrupt end in Clearwater this year due to massive damages caused by Hurricane Milton.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Pinellas County’s 21 miles of beach, which the Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s (CMA) Sea Turtle team patrols, were unrecognizable after Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton.

"Once we came out here for the first time, we were shocked," Carly Oakley, the manager of the Sea Turtle Conservation Program at CMA, said.

Sea turtles in the Clearwater oceans.

Oakley continued, "The first things that we notice is the beach topography itself, the lack of dunes, how flat the beach is, sand displacement."

"Without that dune structure creating a boundary between civilization and the beach, it can cause our turtles to become more confused and possibly disoriented is more likely," Oakley said. "It does not also block out that artificial light that also makes it harder for them to navigate back towards the water."

The good news, Oakley said, is that most of the nests hatched before Hurricane Debby. However, they lost about 60% of the nests that hadn’t hatched in Debby. Helene washed out most of the remaining nests.

"Before Milton came through, everything was already gone," she said.

Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton forced the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to cut the sea turtle nesting season short in Pinellas County. It usually runs from mid-April to the end of October, but ended on Oct. 15 this year.

Despite the storms washing out several nests, Oakley said they still had a good season.

"We were actually also able to document our first leatherback sea turtle nests this season, as well as two green sea turtle nests, which gave us the three species season, which is a big deal for us on these beaches," Oakley said.

The number of nests also increased from 227 last year to 271 this year. False crawls, though, jumped too from 240 last year to 325 this year.

A false crawl is when a female sea turtle crawls onto the beach but then crawls back to the water without laying her eggs. It’s caused by obstructions like sandcastles, holes in the sand, beach toys, and artificial light.

Sea turtle on Clearwater beach.

"We always make sure to ask our guests and visitors to knock down their sandcastles and fill in those sand holes," Oakley said.

Oakley said also make sure you use a red or amber light if you’re on the beach or near the beach during nesting season. It helps prevent hatchlings from getting disoriented.

"This light is harder for the sea turtles to detect and allows them to do their natural nesting process without being disturbed and make it back to the water," Oakley said.

"When I see a dune like this that's been affected negatively by a hurricane, what I'm seeing is that the size has been significantly reduced, which allows there to be less suitable habitat for nesting sea turtles this upcoming season," Oakley continued.

Oakley said they’re working with Pinellas County to restore the beaches before the next nesting season.

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