Posted on: 2018-03-30 10:30:40
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Turtle news we found interesting recently.
It’s time to keep an eye out for out turtle friends again, on beaches and on roadways. They’re on the move!
Plus sea turtles may be more creative than we thought. But some populations keep to themselves.
Also New Jersey considers a state turtle, turtle trafficking is still big business, and much more.
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Recent Box Turtle News
We need to do better about keeping forested areas connected to other forested areas. Many, many animals survive better when they live in forested/undeveloped areas connected to other similar areas.
Box turtles need connected forest areas to survive: Any one box turtle tends to stay in a relatively small home range. But that range needs to overlap with other box turtles’ ranges so they can breed. And a few will be wanderers, which can spread their DNA far & wide. But of course, roads are dangerous to turtles.
Recent U. S. Turtle News
Sea turtles are hitting beaches & other turtles are waking up from their long winter’s nap. So it’s time for us all to do our parts to help keep them all safe.
We also have an interesting discovery about sea turtles, a chance for regular people to help protect turtles in Michigan, and a few rescues. Also another turtle may become a state reptile, Turtle Day is coming, and more.
Turtle mating & nesting season
Measuring how sea turtles see lights on beaches: A masters student at Duke Marine Lab used a remote-controlled rover with light sensors to measure how much light nesting sea turtles might see on several beaches. She then looked at how nest numbers correlated with light pollution. Includes video. (Florida)
It’s time to start watching for turtles on the road!: The weather’s getting warmer, and turtles are on the move again. Depending on where you are, they may be hungry from brumating all winter. Or they may be looking for a mate. Or both! And it’s up to us to help them stay alive when the silly critters don’t realize they’re in the path of a huge death machine.
Conservation & research
Bad news for Hilton Head sea turtles? Maybe. Cold temperatures and last year’s storms may mean fewer nests this year. But nesting is cyclical (numbers go up & down naturally because females don’t nest every year). So nest numbers often rise after 1 or 2 low years.
Are Atlantic leatherbacks endangered or not? A fishermen’s association filed suit last year to have the Atlantic population classified separately from the Pacific leatherbacks (which are doing poorly). But conservationists point to lower nest numbers in Florida in recent years as a reason to keep them on the endangered list.
Help protect Michigan’s turtles! If you’re in Ann Arbor and want to help protect nests, monitor populations and more for the area’s turtles, you’ll want to attend this training session.
Sea turtles use their flippers for more than swimming: Those flippers evolved specifically for swimming, as far as we know. But those ingenious turtles have figured out how to use them for holding, pounding, digging, and more. Their small brains actually make ingenuity seem unlikely, and yet there it is.
The Sea Turtle Second Chance Program: David Maxey talks with Josie, a sea turtle coordinator with the program, on his Animals to the Max podcast. They discuss cold stunning, rehab, release & more. The program is in Pennsylvania, a completely landlocked state, but that doesn’t stop the sea turtle lovers from helping!
Getting Alabama’s baby sea turtles to safety: This group of volunteers is dedicated to making sure the state’s sea turtles survive & come back to nest again. It’s not always easy. But it is rewarding.
Rehab & rescues
Good Samaritans free entangled sea turtle: The poor little turtle had lots fishing line around its neck and flippers. It took some time to carefully clip it away. But in the end it swam away without its unwelcome baggage.
Stoney survived a shark attack 8 months ago: And earlier this week the 215-pound loggerhead got to go back home. Includes video. (Florida)
Do your part to help save the spotted turtle … have a beer! One specific beer, that is. The “I Love it When I Save the Turtles Porter” from Terrestrial Brewing Company. (Ohio)
Thalassia the green sea turtle is on the move: Her rear end is paralyzed, so she can’t go back to the wild. But she’s moving from Oklahoma to Texas, where she’ll share her new home with 2 other green sea turtles.
Miscellaneous news
Will the bog turtle become New Jersey’s state reptile? If these elementary school students have anything to say about it, the answer is yes. And they had plenty to say about it at a recent committee meeting.
Stop exporting America’s turtles More than 17 million freshwater turtles left the country between 2011 and 2016. Most were destined to become food or medicine. This is not sustainable, and the Center for biological Diversity has asked the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to restrict this activity.
Join the Marine Science Center for its 16th Annual Turtle Day: If you’re going to be in or near Ponce Inlet, Florida on April 28, plan to stop in for an educational and fun day. Admission is free.
Recent International Turtle News
This week we we find continued threats to turtles, but also continued efforts to get better at protecting them.
Also time-lapse turtle hatching, an interesting discovery about India’s Olive Ridleys, and a whole week all about turtles.
Plus a a couple of anniversaries (a 1st and a 50th!) for turtle protection organizations, and much more.
Threats to turtles (mostly from humans)
Rising sea levels could make coastal freshwater areas salty: And that could be bad for the turtles that live there. Some of them can’t tolerate much extra salt in their water.
Threats to St. Maarten’s sea turtles: Construction & other activity on the island may impact sea turtle nesting. The biggest concern is at Guana Bay Beach, the island’s most important nesting beach.
Making Versova Beach turtle friendly: Olive Ridleys nested at the beach recently for the 1st time in 20 years. But although the beach is cleaner than it’s been in a long time, it still poses dangers to the turtles. The biggest may be the pits dug for cultivating methi (fenugreek), which can trap both adult and hatchling turtles. (Mumbai, India)
Turtle trafficking in Jakarta: Thousands of already threatened turtles are sold every year in the city’s shops and markets. (Indonesia)
Turtle protection, rehab & research
Rare sea turtle nests almost ready to hatch: Volunteers have been helping protect the 3 nests, and the 1st one is about due to hatch. Green sea turtles don’t usually nest at these beaches, so excitement is high for these nests. (Coffs Coast, Australia)
50 years of protecting and studying turtles: The Bermuda Turtle Project—a joint effort between the Sea Turtle Conservancy and the Bermuda Zoological Society—turns 50 this year! The 2 organizations have made a documentary and plan a stamp series to celebrate. 💚
The Maldives first marine turtle center turns 1: The center treated 35 turtles in its first year. And 15 have recovered & gone back to the sea. Other are still in rehab. 💚
Sea turtle release in Cayman Brac: The turtles were bred, hatched, & raised at the Bermuda Turtle Centre. And now they head out to live their lives as free turtles. Includes video.
Nebs the green sea turtle finishes his 2nd rehab: He finished his 1st round of rehab in 2013. Then in 2015 he managed to get himself hooked by a fisherman. Earlier this week he went back to sea again, complete with a tracker that will hopefully last about a year. (New Zealand)
Plans in place to step up egg looting controls: There’ll be extra surveillance & protection in areas that saw looting last year. (Mexico)
India’s Olive Ridleys don’t mingle with others: Genetic analysis shows the Olive Ridley turtle that nest in Odisha are very different from those that nest in other parts of the world. They live in the Bay of Bengal, not the Atlantic or Pacific oceans.
A lot of work to save one juvenile sea turtle: But it was worth it when the little olive ridley got to go home. Especially since rescuers weren’t even sure it would survive.
Miscellaneous news
International Turtle & Tortoise Week is almost here: Follow ZooMed on social media to learn all about turtles! Teachers can even get a free lesson packet!
Turtles hatch at science festival: Watch the whole process in this time-lapse video to see a baby loggerhead emerge in just over a minute. (Australia)
Did this turtle believe it could fly? Firefighters had to remove the leatherback turtle from the Limon Airport in Costa Rica. Includes pictures.
Probation for killing a snapping turtle: The man who plunged a spike into a snapping turtle last summer has been sentenced to probation, community service, and a fine. Caution: Story includes a picture of the stabbed turtle. 😥 (Ontario, Canada)
Have you heard of the Yangtze Giant Softshell Turtle? As far as we know there’s only 4 of them left in the world. 🙁 One of them lives just outside Hanoi, Vietnam.
This ship runs on sunlight: And air and water, as needed. Its creator is using it to bring awareness to our pollution problem, including and especially plastic pollution. And to showcase solutions to the problem.