Gasparilla Island turned out to be a sea turtle nesting haven during Tropical Storm Debby compared with the devastation visited on Southwest Florida beaches in Sarasota and Manatee counties.
One Gasparilla Island nest even managed to send 93 hatchlings into the world right around the time of the storm, according to the Coastal Wildlife Club.
"We are still finding nests every morning and also seeing nests that have hatched," said Norma Jean Zvosec of the Coastal Wildlife Club. "These are the nests that survived the storm.
Article Photos
Sea turtle hatchlings from Gasparilla Island.
Estimates of the devastation visited in the nests rose from 80 percent right after the storm to 90-plus percent a week later.
With so much beach on Manasota Key simply gone, our original estimate of a 90 percent loss of nests to Tropical Storm Debby may be optimistic," said Wilma Katz of the CWC. "At the north and south ends of this key, nests did better in terms of still being there, but only time will tell if they withstood the soaking. Most of the key, though, experienced severe erosion with beach and nests swept completely away.
"On Gasparilla Island, some beach was washed out leaving steep escarpments, but other areas kept sand and even gained but at the same time were washed over repeatedly and had prolonged flooding, so here, too, only time will tell."
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To volunteer for the CVC, contact Grace Harvey of Boca Grande at (941) 964-5642.
Predation from coyotes is taking a heavier post-storm toll, Zvosec said. Coyotes are destroying nests where protective screens have been washed away. All Gasparilla Island nests were washed over with water and buried under 18 inches of sand and seaweed.
Sea turtle nesting on and around Gasparilla Island reached 2,121 in the first two months of the six-month nesting season. That pace leaves it 1,035 nests and 33 percent short of the record 1998 season total of 3,156.
The CWC covers Boca Grande, Manasota Key and Little Gasparilla Island beaches where nesting is up 446 nests and 27 percent from 1,675 a year ago to 2,121 through June 29.
The CWC reported the Gasparilla Island nest count of 264 as of June 29 was 27.5 percent ahead of the 207 recorded the same time a year ago.
Sea-turtle nesting damage is widespread along the Southwest Florida Gulf Coast. Mote Marina Laboratory officials say stormy weather damaged, destroyed or concealed most sea turtle nests from Longboat Key south through Venice,
Mote researchers verified just 244 nests out of 1,367 marked before the storm. As many as 82 percent of nests lost yellow stakes placed for identification.
Last year's strong laying season was one of the best in the last 20 years. The 2011 total of 2,528 nests at Manasota, Gasparilla and Little Gasparilla fell 628 short of the record or about 20 percent.
Yet this year could have been better. Until Debby, more nests were laid between April and June than during the entire 2011 nesting season. ?
"Nesting is still very strong although increasingly sporadic," Katz said. "Let's hope the numbers just keep climbing. With so many unmarked nests now we have to beware of surprise hatchings."
Beaches monitored by Mote Marina Laboratory ranging from south Venice to the Manatee County line show nest numbers already exceeding 2011. Atlantic Coast monitors report high nesting as well.
About 3,000 people, mostly volunteers, monitor 800 miles of Florida's nesting beaches, including ore than 140 volunteers covering sandy stretches from South Venice to the Boca Grande Pass. Nesting season runs from May through August. Nests incubate 45 to 60 days.
All sea turtle species are considered threatened or endangered under state and federal laws with green turtles particularly rare.
To volunteer for the CVC, contact Grace Harvey of Boca Grande at (941) 964-5642.
