Hurricane Irene kills baby turtles

From Florida Today in the USA:

Irene deadly for Brevard’s baby sea turtles

The beaches survived but baby sea turtles died by the hundreds.

Hurricane Irene‘s surf chipped away at Brevard County beaches, unearthed and killed unhatched and just-hatched endangered sea turtles or kept hatchlings from making their way into the ocean.

Beachgoers brought in more than 100 baby turtles to the Sea Turtle Preservation Society, a nonprofit group in Indialantic. But the turtles’ odds are usually better if left alone, group volunteers said, especially during cooler morning and evening hours.

“There were a lot of people out there thinking they’re doing the right thing,” said Dave Hochberg, member of board of directors for the Sea Turtle Preservation Society.

But capturing the turtles often results in turtles expending their first burst of energy, vital to carrying them out to a seaweed line where they feed near the Gulf Stream’s edge.

Just one in every 1,000 hatchlings survives to adulthood.

Volunteers with the Sea Turtle Preservation Society handle each turtle wash-in on a case-by-case basis, depending on the circumstances.

“The first thing is give us a call, then we go from there,” Hochberg said.

Volunteers let the turtles rest up Friday, then planned to put them back into the ocean.

Countywide, the beaches withstood Irene‘s heavy surf with little damage. …

About half the area’s loggerhead eggs have hatched by now, the other half remain in the sand. “We’re right about 50-50 with the loggerheads,” said LlewEhrhart, a University of Central Florida professor emeritus of biology.

Green sea turtles nest later in the year, he said, so about 80 percent of their eggs are still incubating.

But green sea turtles generally nest higher up on the beach, and dig deeper nests, so they are safer from the storms. Baby turtles don’t survive if the eggs get washed out of the nest.

Pets During Hurricanes: What To Do: here.

The world’s most threatened and healthiest sea turtle populations revealed: here.

Less Sea Turtles Killed In US Fisheries, But Still Too Many, Study Finds – Huffington Post: here.

Leatherback turtles in the North Sea: here. And here.

A rehabilitated loggerhead sea turtle was released by staff from the Turtle Hospital in Marathon, Florida. Discovery News reporter Jessica Marshall was there to witness the turtle’s return to its habitat: here.

The Center for Biological Diversity and Turtle Island Restoration Network (SeaTurtles.org) filed a formal notice of intent to sue the Obama administration today seeking to protect critical habitat for endangered Pacific loggerhead sea turtles along the U.S. West Coast and across the Pacific Ocean. North Pacific loggerheads, which nest in Japan and cross the Pacific to feed along the coasts of Southern California and Mexico, have declined by at least 80 percent over the past decade: here.

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