Featured Image Credit: Gumbo Limbo Nature Center
By Veronica Grigaltchik
There is nothing quite as camera-worthy as a sea turtle nesting on the beach. However, despite the temptation to pull out a cell phone and share the experience with followers or friends, beachgoers are advised against nighttime cell phone use on the beach. It turns out that when it comes to snapping these beloved creatures, sharing is not caring.
Artificial lighting from large sources such as dwellings has previously been recognized as detrimental for sea turtle nesting, which generally occurs at night. But, only recently have cell phones also been implicated. Camera flashes, flashlights, and the light from screens can disrupt nesting by confusing or scaring female sea turtles.
Photo Credit: FWC
Even the small amount of light that is produced by a cell phone can trigger instinctive responses in a female turtle and can result in a “false crawl.” A false crawl is when a female returns to the water without laying her eggs. If a female fails to nest after multiple false crawls, she will nest on suboptimal spots or simply deposit her eggs into the ocean with slim chance of hatchling survival.
Recently, the number of reported false crawls in Florida has increased, as has the use of cellphone flashlights. This lead the Florida Wildlife Commission to issue a warning on cell phone use at night on the beach.
Nighttime cell phone use is particularly problematic on Florida beaches since the species that nest there are all threatened, and their worldwide populations decreasing. It is the only continental state where vulnerable leatherback turtles nest, and it also the largest nesting aggregation of endangered loggerhead turtles in the world. Furthermore, about 90% of all sea turtle nesting in the United States takes place on Florida beaches, so keeping sea turtles protected in this area has a weighted importance.
Photo Credit: Edward Perry
The health of sea turtle populations is always being closely monitored in Florida. Although a record number of nests of the endangered green turtle were found in 2015, with 27,595 nests found on 26 beaches, the Clearwater Marine Aquarium found over 200 dead and sick or distressed juvenile green turtles this year so far. This surpasses the total number that were recovered last year, and indicates that conservation efforts are still extremely important.
The nesting season in Florida will continue until the end of October. Given the number of human-related threats that sea turtles face, visitors should pay particular attention to their beach behavior during the summer months.
There are some important, easy tips for being “turtle-friendly” when visiting or staying at beaches, particularly during the nesting season. And, again, visitors should remember that when it comes to a nesting sea turtle, sharing is not caring.