Crew Helped a “Stuck” Mother Leatherback Turtle Back to the Sea
FORT LAUDERDALE/DAVIE, Fla. – For nearly 30 years, research scientists, students and volunteers have been patrolling Broward County’s beaches as part of the Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program. From March through October, they hit the sand looking for new sea turtle nests, hatchlings who may be disoriented or mother turtles who may be in distress.
And that’s exactly what happened June 5, 2023.
While making their daily survey, Megan Laskowski and Skylar Olsen discovered a brand-new leatherback sea turtle nest near the Hillsboro Beach, right next to the inlet. Leatherbacks are one of three sea turtle species that nest on Florida’s beaches – the others are green turtles and loggerhead turtles. Of the three, leatherbacks nests are the rarest, which made this morning extra special
While roping off the nest, which is standard procedure to ensure visitors do not disturb the eggs and future hatchlings, they discovered that there weren’t any return tracks to the ocean and after a quick look around the area, found that the mother turtle had made her way UP the beach and got herself stuck, and in a bit of a precarious position, too.
“It is not super rare for our surveyors to come across a stranded or stuck sea turtle on morning survey, although it isn’t often,” said Abby Evans, the Project Manager/Permit Holder, Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program. “What is super rare is to come across a stranded live leatherback. Fortunately, the turtle was stuck in an area that we survey first, so she was discovered early morning.”
It is important to know that all activities performed by authorized personnel under FWC MTP-23-214 and MTP-23-208
Evans said that the majority of the work they do to help protect these turtles does not include direct interaction. So being able to help a turtle in distress and get her back to the ocean safely is a super rewarding task. These turtles are very important to our ocean ecosystem, and we always want to do whatever we can to help them in the safest way possible.”
Check out the video
After corresponding with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, we were asked to release the turtle back into the ocean if we were able. That’s when the phone call was made, and other turtle experts raced to the scene to help get mama extricated and back out to sea.
“Yeah, sometimes, it happens, but we’re here to help,” said Derek Burkholder, Ph.D., a research scientist from NSU who is also the Director of the Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program. “The beach is ever-changing, so there are times when mother turtles may get stuck in either natural or man-made obstacles – and when that happens, we mobilize and get her back where she needs to be.”
What makes this leatherback turtle even more special is that she was tagged by Florida Leatherbacks, Inc., a nonprofit research group that is also working to study and protect sea turtles. This particular mama turtle was tagged on Hutchinson Island back in 2021 – and hadn’t been seen since. This kind of information is incredibly important as researchers continue to strive to better understand the nesting behaviors of these animals.
“While it is widely thought that sea turtles return to the same beach from which they hatched to lay their eggs, leatherbacks seem to have a very wide range – we’ve even seen turtles nest in Georgia just a few weeks after nesting in South Florida,” said Kelly Martin of Florida Leatherbacks, Inc.
This turtle, named Mayflower, nested approximately 75 miles from where she was tagged in 2021.
“I am glad that we were able to respond quickly to help this turtle out and get her back on her way – and hopefully, track her back in the future as she lays more eggs,” Martin said.
Accounting for 90% of the nation’s sea turtle nesting, Florida beaches are the most important areas for nesting in the United States. Florida is the largest nesting area in the world for loggerhead sea turtles, hosting 90% of nesting for the North Atlantic loggerhead population and 40% of loggerhead turtle nesting globally. All three species that nest on Broward’s beaches are considered to be endangered or threatened globally by the IUCN Red List and are protected by the U.S. Endangered Species Act, as well as by Florida Statutes. Through nest monitoring and public engagement, the Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program furthers conservation efforts of these imperiled species.
With the swift response and help from various organizations including the Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program, Florida Leatherbacks Inc., and Florida Beach Raker, we were able to use straps and a lot of strong backs to carefully free her of where she was wedged in the rocks and get her back into the water.
She swam away strong, and we look forward to hopefully learning more about her as she continues to come back to our Florida beaches to nest for years to come.
Be sure to sign up for NSU’s RSS feed so you don’t miss any of our news releases, guest editorials and other announcements. Please sign up HERE. You can also follow us on Twitter @NSUNews.
###
About Nova Southeastern University (NSU): At NSU, students don’t just get an education, they get the competitive edge they need for real careers, real contributions and real life. A dynamic, private research university, NSU is providing high-quality educational and research programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree levels. Established in 1964, the university includes 14 colleges, the “theme park” for start-ups, scale-ups , and entrepreneurs, the Alan B. Levan | NSU Broward Center of Innovation, the 215,000-square-foot Center for Collaborative Research, the private PK1-12 grade University School, the world-class NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, and the Alvin Sherman Library, Research and Information Technology Center, one of Florida’s largest public libraries. NSU students learn at our campuses in Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach, and Tampa, Florida, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico, and online globally. With more than 200,000 alumni across the globe, the reach of the NSU community is worldwide. Classified as having “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, NSU is one of only 59 universities nationwide to also be awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification, and is also the largest private institution in the United States that meets the U.S. Department of Education’s criteria as a Hispanic-serving Institution. Please visit www.nova.edu for more information.
