Fewer Loggerhead Turtle Nests Found on Southeast Coast This Summer

[DEMonstate]

EMERALD ISLE, N.C. (AP) - About half the usual number of loggerhead turtles have nested between North Carolina and Florida this season, and scientists have no explanation for the drop.
"It's one of the lowest nesting years through the last 20," said Larry Crowder, a professor at Duke University Marine Laboratory in Beaufort and member of the Atlantic Loggerhead Sea Turtle Recovery team. "I don't think it's time to say, 'Oh my God, loggerheads are going extinct.' It's just a bad year. Obviously that can't go on too long."

Loggerheads have laid about 300 nests in North Carolina and more are expected to lay eggs through August, said Matthew Godfrey, biologist for the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Sea Turtle Project. The total will still be far below the 750 nests laid in a typical year, Godfrey said.

Other Southeastern states where loggerheads primarily nest - South Carolina, Georgia and Florida - report similar declines. Loggerheads, the most common sea turtle, are listed as threatened, meaning they could become endangered.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBIJ77HMXD.html

[tabasco]

1. Why does man have to be such a plague on this planet?

It will probably be much nicer after we are extinct. A terrible and hopeless viewpoint, I know. But all I see is more and more destruction. :-(

[GoddessOfGuinness]

2. The article goes on to say:

"The last time North Carolina had a big dip in nesting was in 1993, when 485 nests were recorded. The following year, there were 1,021 nests."

Let's hope that's the case next year...

[TahitiNut]

3. I think that's regarded as a "sentinel species."

Along with certain frogs, toads, and mussels in various regions of the US, I think the loggerhead is regarded as a sentinel species for the ecology of the southeast coast. I know the snapping turtle is a candidate in the north central US.

[struggle4progress]

4. kick

:kick: