With the sea turtle nesting season underway in Florida, the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) warns beachgoers not to use cell phones to take flash photography of turtles at night, as it interferes with nesting.
"It's great that people are enjoying Florida's beaches and are enthusiastic about our sea turtles," Dr. Robbin Trindell, who leads the FWC's sea turtle management program, said in a news release. "However, most visitors to the beach don't realize that any light on the beach at night poses a threat to these threatened and endangered animals."
Five different species of sea turtle are known to inhabit Florida waters, including loggerheads, green turtles, leatherbacks, the hawksbill, and Kemp's ridley - which is actually the rarest sea turtle in the world and the most endangered.
Generally, female sea turtles return to the beach at which they were born to nest every two to three years. An individual female can lay up to three nests a season with between 80 and 120 eggs in each.
"A nesting female may become frightened or disoriented by lights or a flash photo and return to the ocean without laying eggs," Trindell added. "Lights on the beach at night also could interfere with adult or hatchling sea turtles trying to find the ocean after nesting or hatching."
Wildlife experts expect to see at least three different species of sea turtle along Florida's Atlantic and Gulf coast beaches during this year's nesting season, which lasts from March 1 through the end of October. Last year, a record-breaking 27,975 green turtle nests were documented along the 26 Florida beaches the FWC has monitored since 1989.
In addition to turning off or shielding any sort of lights being used, it is also encouraged that beachgoers not get too close to nesting sea turtles or hatchlings and to remove items such as chairs, canopies, or boats from the beach at night, as they block the movement of turtles and hatchlings.
People can also help keep sea turtles safe by properly disposing of any fishing line that can get tangled around and choke the animals; filling in any holes in the sand to ensure nesting individuals or hatchlings don't fall in and get trapped; and by reporting sick, injured, or dead sea turtles to the FWC.
Sea turtles nesting in Florida are also protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 and Florida's Marine Turtle Protection Act. This means that is it illegal to harm, harass or remove sea turtles, their eggs and hatchlings from their nests.
