Despite stay-at-home orders in March and April, the research group has been able to continue monitoring the endangered and threatened sea turtles in East-Central Florida this year under existing federal and county contracts. By making changes to their operations to include social distancing and face masks, the team was granted UCF authorization to continue its daily morning surveys, but its in-water netting operations have been suspended.<\/p>\n
Commitment to Sea Turtle Counting<\/strong><\/p>\n The UCF team, which includes conservation biologists, genetic specialists<\/a>, and students<\/a>, has been monitoring nesting on the Brevard County portion of Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge for nearly 40 years and has monitored other Brevard County beaches for over 30. Beach-based and in-water data generated by the lab are invaluable for conservation efforts<\/a> and provide UCF students unique hands-on experience<\/a>, which prepare them for graduate school and jobs.<\/p>\n UCF\u2019s group is the only organization authorized to conduct sea turtle monitoring and nest marking throughout the 13 northern-most miles of the Archie Carr Refuge and the Brevard County Mid and South Reaches under permits from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The UCF team also monitors Patrick Air Force Base in conjunction with the U.S. Air Force.<\/p>\n East-Central Florida\u2019s coastline is among the most important nesting areas in the world for loggerhead sea turtles, and it also hosts about one-third of all green turtle nests in the state. The region is at the northern end of a \u201chotspot\u201d for leatherbacks, which nest on our beaches at a smaller scale. Last year, a record 15,784 green turtle nests were recorded on the 13 miles of the Carr Refuge monitored by UCF.<\/p>\n Contrary to popular belief, COVID-19 does not draw more turtles to the beach, Seney says. But because the beaches were largely empty early in the season, there may have been fewer nesting turtles disturbed by human activities and artificial lighting, which would have conserved individual females\u2019 energy and reduced disorientations caused by lights.<\/p>\n The team\u2019s work was especially critical this year because Brevard County and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were conducting beach renourishment projects. In addition to its daily monitoring surveys, the team was hired to mark nests throughout the county beaches \u2014 including every nest in Central Brevard through early May \u2014 to keep them out of harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n Now that the nourishment projects are over, the team is back to its routine monitoring efforts, which include counting nests during daylight hours and marking some, but not all, nests with minimal signage for later determination of how many eggs hatched.<\/p>\n Although currently on hold due to COVID-19, the team usually studies juvenile turtles that return to the area and forage for food in the Indian River Lagoon. The overarching program is aimed at learning more about the biology and health of sea turtles at multiple life stages and finding ways to better preserve the species.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/files\/2020\/05\/TurtleOne-300x200.jpg\")