What you can do
All marine turtles in Georgia are protected by state and federal law. To help conserve these species:
Minimize beachfront lighting during sea turtle nesting season. Turn off, shield or redirect lights.
When walking the beach at night, don’t use flashlights and flash photography. They can deter turtles from coming ashore to nest or cause them to abort nesting.
If you encounter a sea turtle on the beach, remain quiet, still and at a distance.
Leave turtle tracks undisturbed. Researchers use them to identify the species and mark nests for protection.
Properly dispose of your garbage. Turtles may mistake plastic bags, Styrofoam and trash floating in the water as food and die when this trash blocks their intestines.
Remove recreational equipment such as lounge chairs and umbrellas from the beach at night. They can deter nesting attempts and interfere with the seaward journey of hatchlings.
Protect beach vegetation that stabilizes sand and the natural coastline.
When boating, stay alert and avoid turtles. About 31 percent of the sea turtles found dead or hurt in Georgia in 2017 suffered injuries consistent with being hit by a boat. Boaters who hit a sea turtle are urged to stand-by and immediately contact DNR at 800-2-SAVE-ME (800-272-8363).
Also report any dead or injured sea turtles seen at 800-272-8363. (If the turtle is tagged, include the tag color and number in the report if possible.)
Sources: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Georgia DNR
Accidental Catches
- Anglers who hook or entangle a sea turtle should call DNR at 800-2-SAVE-ME (800-272-8363). Also:
- Keep hands away from the turtle’s mouth and flippers.
- Safely land the turtle using a net or by walking it to shore. Do not lift the turtle by the hook or by pulling on the line.
- Leave the hook in place; removing it can cause more damage. (Anglers are encouraged to use non-stainless, barbless hooks when possible.)
- Keep the turtle out of direct sunlight and cover it with a damp towel.
If an angler cannot reach DNR, cut the line as short as possible and release the turtle.
Logerheads at a glance
- Caretta caretta: Most common sea turtle on Georgia’s coast; found off coast year-round. Also one of the world’s largest turtles, topping 350 pounds and sporting a carapace up to 44 inches long. How long loggerheads live is not known.
- Range: The Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, and the Mediterranean Sea. Nests in the U.S. from Virginia to Texas.
- Nesting: Females reach sexual maturity at 30-35 years. From about May through September, they crawl ashore at night, dig a hole in the face of dunes along barrier island beaches, and deposit and cover eggs.
- Pilgrimage: Eggs hatch in 55-65 days. The young scramble for the water, beginning a journey that can take them from sargassum weed off Georgia’s shores to a current-fed loop that circles to the Azores and the eastern Atlantic Ocean, south to west Africa and back to the western Atlantic.
- Eats: Fish eggs and small invertebrates when small. As adults, they eat mainly crabs and mollusks, but also forage items like jellyfish and dead fish.
- Status: Federally listed as threatened since 1978. Georgia DNR reclassified loggerheads in the state from threatened to endangered in 2006.
- Threats: Primarily mortality associated with commercial fishing activities, but also nest predation by raccoons and feral hogs, poaching, loss of habitat, boat strikes, and even ingestion of plastic litter mistaken as food.
NESTING IN GEORGIA
Annual loggerhead nest totals since comprehensive surveys began in 1989.
1989 – 675
1990 – 1,031
1991 – 1,101
1992 – 1,048
1993 – 470
1994 – 1,360
1995 – 1,022
1996 – 1,096
1997 – 789
1998 – 1,055
1999 – 1,406
2000 – 1,060
2001 – 852
2002 – 1,028
2003 – 1,504
2004 – 358
2005 – 1,187
2006 – 1,389
2007 – 689
2008 – 1,649
2009 – 997
2010 – 1,761
2011 – 1,992
2012 – 2,241
2013 – 2,289
2014 – 1,201
2015 – 2,335
2016 – 3,289
2017 – 2,155
BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Sea turtle nesting season is on in Georgia.
National Park Service staff documented the first loggerhead nest of 2018 on Cumberland Island Tuesday morning, the fifth straight year that honor went to Georgia’s southernmost barrier island.
Sea Turtle Program Coordinator Mark Dodd of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources said loggerhead nesting usually begins in early May and hits full stride by June.
“It’s an annual ritual, part of spring on the coast in Georgia,” Dodd said. “Everybody’s excited.”
Credit part of the excitement to the recovery of loggerheads, the state’s primary marine turtle and a protected species federally listed as threatened. Georgia’s 2,155 nests in 2017 were the state’s fourth-most since comprehensive surveys began in 1989. Loggerheads set a record of 3,289 nests in 2016.
That year, the species surpassed for the first time a recovery benchmark of 2,800 nests in the state.
Analysis shows nesting increasing about 3 percent a year here. Nesting in Florida and the Carolinas is also trending upward.
Like other marine turtles, loggerheads – named for their massive heads – crawl ashore on barrier island beaches, dig a hole at the base of the dunes and lay their eggs, usually at night.
The Georgia Sea Turtle Cooperative, a DNR-coordinated network of about 200 volunteers, researchers and agency employees, patrols beaches daily during nesting season. Working under a federal permit, members mark, monitor and protect all nests, including species that seldom nest here, such as green and Kemp’s ridley.
Dodd expects nesting to be above average but below the record from 2016. Nesting varies annually.
“We generally see two medium nesting years following a record year,” said Dodd, a senior wildlife biologist with DNR’s Nongame Conservation Section.
In preparation for the season, Dodd and staff have been training interns, working with volunteers and partner agencies and organizations, and teaming with DNR’s Law Enforcement Division. Game wardens enforce regulations including the use of turtle excluder devices, or TEDs, in commercial shrimping.
National Park Service wildlife biologist Doug Hoffman discovered the year’s first nest on Cumberland Island t. As with other nests, one egg – less than 1 percent of the average clutch size on the island – was collected for University of Georgia genetic analysis documenting the number and relatedness of loggerheads nesting on the state’s coast. The nest was then covered with a screen to protect the eggs from coyotes and other predators.
DNR’s Nongame Conservation Section works to conserve sea turtles and other wildlife not legally fished for or hunted, as well as rare plants and natural habitats. The agency does this largely through public support from fundraisers, grants and contributions.
Key fundraisers include sales and renewals of the eagle and hummingbird license plates. These tags cost only $25 more than a standard plate to buy or renew. Up to $20 of that fee goes to help wildlife.
Supporters can donate online at www.gooutdoorsgeorgia.com. Click “Licenses and Permits” and log in to the secure system. (New customers will need to create an account.)
Learn more at www.georgiawildlife.com/licenseplates and www.georgiawildlife.com/donations. Visit www.georgiawildlife.com/conservation/annualreport to see how your support is put to work
