Turtles still nesting late in season

This new loggerhead turtle nest was found on Little Gasparilla Island in early September, well after most clutches are laid. While Tropical Storms Debby and Isaac caused high tides and washed many nests, all was not lost. Photo provided by CWC

After a busy start to turtle nesting season, Debby’s timing couldn’t have been worse. The storm grazed southwest Florida during Week Ten of the season, which is right at the peak for new nests being found each year. It caused a drop in the weekly reported nest numbers from the upper 40s to the lower 20s. But in the weeks that followed, there were signs for optimism. There was an instant rebound in the number of nests found during Week 11, along with evidence that turtles had continued to lay new nests throughout the storm.

Those signs have begun to bear out, with what looks like a spike in the number of new nests found in the last week of August. In fact, all but two of the 19 “new” nests recorded that week were missed nests and storm nests hatching.

According to Wilma Katz of CWC, any future loggerhead nests listed will probably fall into two categories.

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