Boat Strikes on Sea Turtles On The Rise

Photo Credit: Loggerhead Turtle – Sea Turtle Conservancy

Meet Loggerhead sea turtle egg No. 87 out of 112, which were laid on Algiers Beach on Sanibel in 1991.

Sea turtle No. 87, like much of her other 111 siblings, hatched during a warm, late summer evening.

With a yolk-sack strapped to his underside with about three-days worth of energy, No. 87 billows out of the sandy-walled nest with the majority of her siblings. She starts toward the first light she sees, which fortunately for her, is the twinkling moonlight shimmering off the Gulf of Mexico water.

CROW’s Hospital Director Dr. Heather Barron examines a Loggerhead sea turtle after it was brought in suffering from wounds caused by a boat strike. So far this year, there have been eight sea turtle boat strikes on Sanibel, which is 53-percent of the reported strandings of sea turtles. (Photo by CROW)

Unfortunately, for almost a quarter of her brothers and sisters, they instead see the yard light from a nearby house and start their trek away from the water and will soon dehydrate or starve after crawling around lost for up to three days.

via Boat strikes on sea turtles on the rise – CaptivaSanibel.com | Island Reporter, Captiva Current, Sanibel-Captiva Islander.