Ocean Sentry
In a month, 217 loggerhead and green turtles have been found ashore in five counties. Dead and sick sea turtles are washing up on beaches at roughly three times the normal rate from Duval to Brevard County, and biologists don”t know why. Between Jan. 1 and April 2, 113 loggerheads and 104 green turtles came ashore from Duval County south through St. Johns, Flagler, Volusia and Brevard counties, said Allen Foley, a biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute.
Loggerheads, a threatened species that can grow up to 800 pounds, have been washing ashore at twice the average rate for the region and time of year. Green turtles, an endangered species that generally weigh about 300 pounds, are coming up on beaches at four times the average rate.
Known as strandings, the sea turtles are washing ashore dead or so severely ill that they’re too weak to swim or eat.
Strandings have really made their mark along 8 miles of beach at the Guana Reserve, where volunteers and staff counted 14 dead or injured turtles in one week last month, said Assistant Manager Janet Zimmerman. In one day alone, six turtles washed ashore, she said.
“It’s definitely a high number, to see six within one day,” Zimmerman said.
Biologists are baffled by what’s causing the strandings.
Most of the dead and injured turtles have no signs of fishing gear injuries, Foley said. Necropsies, or animal autopsies, show no evidence of man-made toxins or bacterial, fungal or viral infections, he said.
As far as biologists know, whatever is killing the turtles isn’t destroying other types of marine life. Also, Foley said, the sickening agent is affecting two turtle species that live in different geographic regions and have different eating habits – loggerheads eat shellfish, green turtles eat plants and algea.
Mysterious sea turtle strandings have occurred every two or three years in the last few decades, Foley said. The most prevalent theory for their demise is a harmful algae bloom. There are thousands of toxic algaes in the ocean, but only a handful of them appear on tests, Foley said. Necropsies on the stranded sea turtles don’t indicate red tide or other types of toxic algea that can be tested, he said.
Stranded sea turtles – Anyone who finds a dead or sick sea turtle should not place it back in the water, because the turtle needs medical attention from an experienced veterinarian. – If you find a stranded turtle in Atlantic, Neptune or Jacksonville beaches, call 613-6081. – In St. Johns County, call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission turtle pager, which operates from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at (800) 241-4653. Enter number 274-4867.
(From jacksonville.com, Florida, by Caren Burmeister)
