
- Adopt a turtle. Join and support the Sea Turtle Survival League by calling 1-800-678-7853 or writing to 4424 N.W. 13th St. Suite A-1, Gainesville, FL 32609.
- Buy a License Plate. The next time you renew your automobile registration at your local tax collector's office, request a specialty sea turtle plate. The extra dollars go toward protection, research, and recovery programs at the Marine Resources Conservation Fund in the Florida fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
� What do the hatchlings do after they leave their nests?
After the two-month incubation period, the turtle hatchlings all dig out of their nest at the same time, a process that can take several days. As a group, they then leave their nest at night and head directly for the sea. This first trek imprints their home beach into the hatchling. Once grown, the turtles will return to lay their nests on the same beach.
� What is a hatchlings chance of survival?
Only about one in 1,000 turtles survive to adult hood. Hatchlings die of dehydration if they don't make it to the ocean fast enough. Birds, crabs, and other animals also prey on the young.
� What should I do if I find hatchlings wandering in a road, parking lot, or in directions other than toward the water?
Call the Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch at 583-1913.
� What should I do if I find sea turtle hatchlings emerging on the beach?
- Watch from a distance.
- Allow them to crawl to the water on their own.
- Leave them in their nest.
- Keep all lights off.
� What should I do if I see a sea turtle nesting?
- Stay behind her at a distance and remain quiet.
- Don't use any lights, including flashlights, flash photography, and video equipment.
- Don't put your hands on or near the turtle. Any distractions may frighten and disorient the turtle causing her to return to the ocean before completely covering and camouflaging.
- Do not disturb the nest site or the turtle tracks.
� What threatens sea turtle survival?
- Natural Predation - Many predators such as crabs, ants, raccoons, and birds target turtle eggs and hatchlings. If they are lucky enough to reach adulthood, sea turtles are immune to predation, except for the occasionally shark attack.
- Human Predation - Though most countries have laws against harvesting sea turtles for food, the laws are not well enforced. Adult turtles are also harvested for meat and their shells are made into jewelry and souvenirs.
- Commercial Fishing - Entanglement in fishing nests is a major contributor to the death toll of juvenile and adult sea turtles. In the past, shrimp nets killed more than 50,000 turtles annually. Now, U.S. shrimpers are required to put Turtle Excluder Devices (TED's) in their trawl nets.
- Ingesting Plastic and Other Litter and Debris - Thousands of sea turtles die each year from eating and becoming entangled in plastic bags and balloons floating in the water. While releasing helium balloons into the air is a common way to celebrate an event, the balloons end up drifting in the oceans where sea turtles mistake them for one of their main food sources, jellyfish.
- Artificial Lighting - Nesting sea turtles look for dark, quiet beaches to lay their eggs. Lights from buildings along the beach distract and confuse the females as well as the hatchlings. When the young turtles emerge from the nest at night, they are drawn toward the lights instead of the water. A single light can cause hundreds of misdirected hatchlings to be killed by automobiles on nearby reads and parking lots, dehydrate in the morning sun and increase their chance of being killed by predators like birds, crabs, and even ants.
- Coastal Armoring - Sea walls, sandbags, and other barriers built to protect beach front property from erosion block female turtles from ideal nesting grounds. The developing coastline is rapidly encroaching on suitable nesting beaches.
- Beach Nourishment - Another way to combat property erosion on beaches is to bring in truckloads of sand or to pump sand up onto the beach from the bottom of the ocean or a river channel. If the sand is of a different consisten