http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireS...ia-carolinas-64312283


Rare sea turtles smash nesting records in Georgia, Carolinas

Byruss bynum, associated press

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Jul 13, 2019,



Rare sea turtles are smashing nesting records this summer on beaches in the Southeast, with scientists crediting the egg-laying boom to conservation measures that began more than 30 years ago.


Giant loggerhead sea turtles weighing up to 300 pounds (136 kilograms) crawl ashore to dig nests in the sand every summer along the southern Atlantic coast. While nesting typically occurs from May through August, record nest counts set in 2016 have already fallen in Georgia and South Carolina. North Carolina is also closing in on its record count.

So far this year, researchers and volunteers in those three states have cataloged more than 12,200 nests left by loggerheads, a threatened species protected under the Endangered Species Act. That's already far ahead of the 11,321 nests in the previous highest count three years ago.


"My laboratory is almost floor-to-ceiling in samples right now," said University of Georgia professor Joe Nairn, who studies adult female turtles using DNA extracted from eggshell samples taken from each loggerhead nest found in the three states. "It's pretty obvious to us that this is a big year."

Loggerheads crawling from the surf of the Atlantic Ocean lay roughly 100 pingpong-ball sized eggs per nest. During the nesting season, volunteers from North Carolina to Florida comb the shoreline each day around sunrise to catalog new nests and cover them with protective screens to keep out wild hogs and other predators until the eggs hatch.

The nest counts serve as a key indicator of the overall population's health. Female loggerheads tend to lay eggs only every three to four years, so the numbers often fluctuate. Still, scientists have seen an encouraging leap in the past 15 years.

Loggerhead nesting along Georgia's 100-mile (161-kilometer) coast hit its low point in 2004 with fewer than 400 nests.

So far this year, more than 3,500 loggerhead nests have been recorded on Georgia's beaches, surpassing the state's 2016 record of 3,289. Mark Dodd, the state biologist who heads Georgia's sea turtle recovery program, said he expects the final count to reach 4,000 nests by the end of August.

Dodd says the rebound can likely be traced to two key conservation measures taken up decades ago. States have stepped up monitoring and protection of sea turtle nests since loggerheads were listed as a threatened species in 1978. And shrimp boats trawling in U.S. waters since 1987 have been required to equip their nets with escape hatches for sea turtles.

Scientists suspect those decades-old efforts are showing big results now because female loggerheads don't reach full maturity and start nesting until they're about 30 years old.

"They've been able to survive to maturity and reproduce and come back to lay eggs," said Michelle Pate, who leads the sea turtle program for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. "It's been a long haul, but I think we're finally seeing it pay off."

South Carolina this year has counted more than 7,100 nests on its beaches - an increase of more than 600 nests compared to the previous record from 2016. And North Carolina's nest count is closing in on its record of 1,622 nests.

Results of DNA testing on sea turtle eggs conducted at the University of Georgia back up the idea that more female loggerheads are reaching maturity and starting to nest. Since 2010, survey teams in Georgia and the Carolinas have collected one egg from each nest they find and sent the shell to Nairn's lab.

Each eggshell is used to establish a DNA fingerprint for the adult turtle that laid it. After building a DNA database for loggerheads for roughly a decade, Nairn said his research team each year still finds 25 to 30 percent of the nesting females are turtles they haven't seen before. He said that suggests the adult female population is growing.

The busiest U.S. state for sea turtle nesting by far is Florida, which had a record 122,707 loggerhead nests in 2016. The numbers are so large that Florida doesn't keep a running count during the nesting season. Final counts are typically completed in the fall.

"Based on what we've seen so far, we are confident in saying that Florida is having a robust season," Beth Mongiovi, a sea turtle researcher for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, said by email. "As to this being a record year for loggerheads, it is too early to say."


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Zzzzzzz.. Zzzzzzz.. Braaaaaapp!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Now we need to figure out a viable way to keep their nesting beaches from being consumed by rising oceans.

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I was right.

...seems like the new population of turtles makes your 'climate change' look even more like shit!

Fact!

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The REAL truth is....both of the forum idiots are OWNED.
-BOTH of them have no clue who their owner is.
-They are both card carrying narcissists.
^These are PROVED facts.

Will FK still be yelling Global Warming is fake when the proof is undeniable?

Black is white.

Wrong is right.

I'm sayin yes.

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I was right.

Lyin fish love their numbers.

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

LOL

I was wondering how long it would take for a douchebag to chime in on this thread.

You know Lyin Fish and his type were crying their eyes out about sea turtle regs 30 years ago.

Just goes to show what asses they are..





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Zzzzzzz.. Zzzzzzz.. Braaaaaapp!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Well we know what you do with your ass....

Look down.

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The REAL truth is....both of the forum idiots are OWNED.
-BOTH of them have no clue who their owner is.
-They are both card carrying narcissists.
^These are PROVED facts.

I just see a Lyin Fish in jail. Love it - keep spreading the word - you're doing a great job hahaha

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Zzzzzzz.. Zzzzzzz.. Braaaaaapp!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Yeah...suuuuurrrrreeeee.........

That fish has the key.

It's you and your buttplug buddies in jail.

Fool!



-------------------------
The REAL truth is....both of the forum idiots are OWNED.
-BOTH of them have no clue who their owner is.
-They are both card carrying narcissists.
^These are PROVED facts.

The fish is behind the bars. Lyin Fish has the wrong key. Loser's gonna lose.

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I was right.

That fish took the key away from the dog.....

The dog pulled out his buttplug.

The picture is taken from INSIDE the jail behind a locked door.

MORON!



-------------------------
The REAL truth is....both of the forum idiots are OWNED.
-BOTH of them have no clue who their owner is.
-They are both card carrying narcissists.
^These are PROVED facts.

How about the irony the Lyin Fish himself is flying a sig with him in jail..

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Zzzzzzz.. Zzzzzzz.. Braaaaaapp!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

I'm not in jail....i'm visiting you and your buttbuddies....laughing at your asses!

The fish has the door key.

Those actually in jail dont have door keys.

MORON!

-------------------------
The REAL truth is....both of the forum idiots are OWNED.
-BOTH of them have no clue who their owner is.
-They are both card carrying narcissists.
^These are PROVED facts.

just so you can re-adjust your markers for turtles. Record CO2 levels translate to the ocean absorbing more CO2. Plants like CO2. Record Nitrogen and fertilizer runoff into the ocean (amazon and Mississippi and all points in between) also promotes plant growth. young turtles like seaweed. They live in it and count on it to protection. Conservation/protection for nesting helps to improve the odds they get a chance to make it out to the recent nirvana of their growth environment. Now if we can just get rid of the damn plastic. gutted a whiting the other day nipped his stomach, and yup, there was plastic.

Hey nurse ratshit: the fat creepy Redfish Fellator dork is off his meds and huffing his info wars "nutritional supplements" again.
She's locked herself in to the institute's computer room again. Babbling something about dog's pulling buttplugs and a fish taking his keys.....
Nurse ratshit: oh Lord, not again. Okay guys, you know the drill: tranq him, plank him, restrain him, and put him back in his favorite rubber room.
Meanwhile: back to the subject of the post: conservation does indeed work. Period.
The banana river has a lot of fish, new dolphin and manatee babies. Our local programs are showing fruition
And we finally have an actual conservative republican governor who is actually doing something to address florida's water and environment issues. He's even appointed a chief ((GASP!) Science Officer! Oh, the horror!
Hark! what's that strange smell? Could it be.....fresh air?
After the nitemare of pigblo's favorite useless fuk boy pig sugar rick. duuhhh.....
Watch this space



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It's a democratic hoax

Edited: 07/14/2019 at 04:04 PM by nukeh2o

OK Captain Storyteller.. you sound like a 5 year old playing with dolls.

Bottom line is.. there's a Lyin Fish behind those bars and you're so stupid you've got it as YOUR sig too

LOL what a frikkin dipshit..

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Zzzzzzz.. Zzzzzzz.. Braaaaaapp!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Edited: 07/14/2019 at 03:19 PM by fishkller

nope.

I made the pic and the fish is IN FRONT of the bars!

LOSER!

-------------------------
The REAL truth is....both of the forum idiots are OWNED.
-BOTH of them have no clue who their owner is.
-They are both card carrying narcissists.
^These are PROVED facts.

Edited: 07/14/2019 at 07:46 PM by Fish Killer