It's Now Sea Turtle Nesting Season in the Gulf!

Latest reports from sea turtle biologist Donna Shaver of Padre Island National Seashore indicate that 78 Kemp's ridleys have already nested along the Texas coast! Want to see exactly where they've been nesting? Click here for a map!
In addition, the Atlantic green turtles are nesting in Tortuguero, Costa Rica; the loggerhead turtles are nesting on the West Florida coast; leatherbacks have arrived to nest on Eastern Florida beaches as well as Southern Georgia. There's a lot going on everywhere!

But now that the sea turtles are nesting and the little hatchlings will emerge soon, there is much to be done to ensure that the babies make it out to the sea. Here's a quick little list of just some ways to help out:

• Owners of beachfront property must turn out any porch lights after sunset, and use blackout curtains to keep light from getting out of their homes and shining out towards the beaches. Light bothers nesting sea turtles (except for red light). Plus, little hatchlings use light reflection off of the waves from the moon and stars to guide themselves toward the water. If they instead follow city lights inland, you will have lots of dead baby sea turtles all over city streets and parking lots in the morning.
• Again, if you own beachfront property, make sure you clear the beach of any umbrellas, chairs, or other obstacles that may block a sea turtle mother from nesting on the beach.
• And also, lock up your garbage because loose garbage = raccoons = animals that will eat baby sea turtles.
• Clean up beach litter to prevent sea turtles from becoming entangled, or to prevent them from eating it. Ingestion of plastic causes intestinal blockages, malnourishment, and may eventually lead to death.
• Support sea turtle conservation projects! Join a volunteer night patrol.

It's exciting news to hear about nesting sea turtles, especially with the abnormally high numbers of stranded turtles popping up everywhere in the Gulf of Mexico. This year so far we've already seen the sea turtle death toll reach way higher than the normal average (around 150 reported). Most of the time though, accidental catches of sea turtles by fishermen are not even recorded, and the dead sea turtle is thrown overboard to sink and decay at the bottom of the ocean. Scientists estimate that the real number of marine mammals harmed in the BP spill may be up to 50 times higher than what we can observe.

The high number of sea turtle deaths may not even be because of the oil spill—it is most likely because of shrimp trawling. The data all points to shrimp trawling as the top killer of sea turtles in the United States. 

They're cute, they're little... they're the Kemp's ridleys!

Yesterday was the grand public premiere of STRP’s documentary, The Heartbreak Turtle Today, in Sausalito, CA. The film is about the recovery of Kemp’s ridley sea turtles in the Gulf, and the threats to their survival. Before the film my supervisor gave a presentation about the work he had conducted last summer dealing with the BP oil spill aftermath. We had a decent turn out, a few people bought DVDs, and all of them signed the petition we had out to “hold BP accountable for the disaster in the Gulf.”

The Kemp’s ridleys (Lepidochelys kempii)are the most critically endangered of all sea turtle species. Decades ago they were nicknamed the Heartbreak turtle by fishermen who would say these turtles “died of a broken heart” when they were turned on their backs. Because fishermen were (are?) cruel, cruel beings who watch sea turtles suffer as they are flipped on their backs and struggle to get away.

Before the event had even began, the other intern and I were setting up a table of STRP information and merchandise and I came across a pile of old Viva La Tortuga (STRP) newsletters from 2007. Inside was a full page article that read, “Protections in Gulf Waters Lead to Record Kemps Ridley Nestings.” Oh the irony.

Over 10 years ago STRP had convinced then-Texas Governor George W. Bush to close state waters to shrimping from December to May—critical nesting period for Kemp’s ridleys. In the six years before this closure, only 60 nests were laid in total on Texas beaches. In the six years after this closure, there were four times as many nests. A great improvement, but ultimately shrimpers still kill hundreds and hundreds of turtles each year.

More and more turtles have been washing up on Gulf coast beaches. Dead. From oil-related reasons most likely, because the shrimping season is only about to begin.

Baby dolphins too.

Despite all this, offshore oil drilling continues…

Kemp’s ridley Profile

Appearance: The smallest of all sea turtle species, they only get to be about two feet long, and weigh up to 100 lbs. Hatchlings are black, but adults tend to be gray-green or dark gray with a cream colored underside.

Location: The only Kemp’s ridley nesting beaches are found on the coasts of Mexico and Texas. Primarily they inhabit the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana waters, but can sometimes be found along the Eastern U.S. coast.

Food: They eat mollusks, crustaceans, jellyfish, algae and seaweed. Crab and shrimp are favorites.

Reproduction: During the daytime, large groups of nesting females emerge from the ocean nearly simultaneously, an event called an arribada. In the 1940s, thousands of Kemp’s ridleys could be seen at once on the same beach. Unfortunately, because of the serious threats they face, only one percent of hatchlings grow to sexual maturity of about 10 years old.

Threats: Shrimp trawls are #1—in 2009 NMFS estimates that over 4000 Kemp's ridleys were killed from interactions with shrimping activities. Poaching is the second big one. Because they nest together in large numbers during the daytime, it is easy for poachers to take the eggs they are laying right from under them. Boat collisions are another threat, and so is ingestion of/entanglement in marine debris. Oh, and last but not least OIL is another big killer. Thanks a lot BP! Also thanks for burning hundreds of sea turtles alive, you jerks.

Visit STRP's website to find more information about Kemp's ridley sea turtles and The Heartbreak Turtle Today!!!!