• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Earth Wise

A look at our changing environment.

  • Home
  • About Earth Wise
  • Where to Listen
  • All Articles
  • Show Search
Hide Search
You are here: Home / Podcast / Sea Turtles Prospering During The Shutdown | Earth Wise

Sea Turtles Prospering During The Shutdown | Earth Wise

May 14, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Sea turtles thriving during Coronavirus shutdown

Our stories often discuss how human activities change the natural environment.  With most of us confined to our homes, the lack of human activities is having profound effects on the environment.  We are talking about some of these this week.

Seven different species of sea turtles are found in the world’s oceans and play important roles in marine ecosystems.  Over time, human activities have tipped the scales against the survival of these animals.  They have been hunted for their eggs, meat, skin, and shells and face habitat destruction and accidental capture in fishing gear.  Their nesting grounds in beaches are constantly disturbed and endangered by human activity.

With the beaches in Florida closed in the effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, there is less plastic waste, fewer people and vehicles, and fewer artificial lights on the beach that disorient emerging turtle hatchlings.  Because of all of these factors, sea turtles have been building their nests without disruptions.

In April, it was nesting season for leatherback turtles, the largest of all sea turtles. In May, loggerhead turtles arrive in Florida.  Later in the summer, green turtles will arrive.

It takes about 60 days for sea turtle eggs to incubate and to hatch.  During that period, lots of things can happen to a nest on an active beach – it can get trampled, people can dig it up, and artificial light can confuse the hatchlings as they try to find their way to the water.  With the current shutdown, it should be a productive nesting season for sea turtles.

On the other hand, when beaches reopen, there may well be a major influx of people flocking to the beach because they have been stuck indoors for an extended period of time.

**********

Web Links

Sea turtles are thriving as coronavirus lockdown empties Florida beaches

Photo, posted August 9, 2016, courtesy of Florida Fish and Wildlife via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Tagged With: artificial light, beaches, coronavirus, covid-19, ecosystems, eggs, green turtles, hatchlings, human activities, hunted, leatherbacks, lights, loggerheads, marine, meat, natural, nesting season, oceans, plastic, sea turtles, shutdown, skin, trampled, turtle eggs, vehicles

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Episodes

  • Sea Level Rise And Global Security | Earth Wise
  • Keeping The Keeling Curve Going | Earth Wise
  • Great Salt Lake In Danger | Earth Wise
  • Distributed Wind Energy | Earth Wise
  • Solar Power At Night | Earth Wise

WAMC Northeast Public Radio

WAMC/Northeast Public Radio is a regional public radio network serving parts of seven northeastern states (more...)

Copyright © 2023 ·