Through Our Eyes

Throughout the summer, sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. It is unfortunate that turtle hatchling season and hurricane season coincide with the losses for endangered and threatened species being significant. This has been considered a mild year but the waves from Irene hit the nesting beaches during peak incubation time. Although about half the nests had already hatched by last weekend, at least 20 nests of endangered loggerhead turtles were lost on Amelia Island along Florida’s coast. Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch commented that although they lost 20 due to bad weather, they had a total of 154 nests so it isn’t as devastating as it might sound. In Georgia it is considered an unusually strong year for hatchlings with more than 2,000 nests deposited.