Sea turtle nesting season underway – West Hawaii Today

Biologists are urging beachgoers to be conscientious as sea turtle nesting season carries on all through the state, as there could also be extra turtles nesting on the primary Hawaiian Islands than there have been for years.

Nesting season for each inexperienced and hawksbill sea turtles lasts roughly from April to October and entails the amphibians crawling up seashores to deposit eggs within the sand. When the eggs hatch, the hatchlings try and make their option to the ocean, which is the place human influence most frequently disrupts the method.

Sheldon Plentovich, coastal program coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within the Pacific Islands, mentioned any mild sources on the seashore — and even seen from the seashore — will confuse and disorient any nesting feminine turtles, however can have disastrous results on hatchlings, which is able to try and observe the sunshine supply away from the water and can, most probably, die of exhaustion, dehydration or predation.

In a single instance, Plentovich mentioned {that a} white mild seen from miles away led to tons of of turtle hatchlings dying at James Campbell Wildlife Refuge on Oahu once they tried to observe the sunshine inland.

“Ideally, you’re not utilizing any lights in any respect,” Plentovich mentioned. “But when it’s a must to use a lightweight, use one with longer wavelengths within the crimson, orange or amber spectrums.”

Irene Kelly, sea turtle restoration coordinator for the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, mentioned the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle’s main Hawaiian nesting websites are on the Huge Island or Molokai. Final yr, she mentioned, there have been 53 confirmed hawksbill nesting websites on the Huge Island, though she added that almost all of them are in extraordinarily remoted areas — Kamehame Seaside in Ka‘u might be the closest nesting website to human habitation.

“However generally fishermen will arrange camp round seashores like that, and the lights will nonetheless have an effect on the hatchlings,” Kelly mentioned.

Kelly urged anybody who sees a hawksbill turtle — identifiable by the serrated edges on its shell, slender head, pointed beak and 4 scales between its eyes — to report the sighting to NOAA.

“There are so few hawksbills that they’re very onerous to observe, so we depend on public experiences,” Kelly mentioned, including that volunteer applications to observe for hawksbills have been suspended throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, whereas inexperienced sea turtles hardly ever nest on the Huge Island, Plentovich mentioned that turtle species has been nesting an increasing number of within the state during the last a number of years. In 2018, there have been zero recorded inexperienced sea turtle nesting websites on Oahu. In 2021, there have been 67.

“Everybody was assuming that it was due to COVID, as a result of there have been fewer individuals on the seashore,” Plentovich mentioned. “However there have been 10 nests in 2019, so it appears unlikely that it’s simply due to individuals on the seashore.”

Plentovich mentioned one principle for the change in nesting conduct is said to the 2018 Hurricane Walaka, which developed south in September of that yr and struck the French Frigate Shoals to the northeast of the primary Hawaiian Islands.

Sadly, Plentovich mentioned, East Island within the shoals was one of many final secure nesting websites for inexperienced sea turtles and was principally washed away by the storm surge. With out East Island, turtles have been returning to extra harmful nesting grounds, which sadly consists of the primary Hawaiian Islands.

“Turtles strive to return to the place they have been born to nest,” Plentovich mentioned. “If they’ll’t try this, that’s a giant shift in turtle conduct.”

Plentovich added that East Island was, on common, just one.3 meters above sea degree, and that local weather change and rising sea ranges will probably proceed to pressure turtles to nest in additional harmful areas.

To report a hawksbill sighting, e mail respectwildlife@noaa.gov or name (888) 256-9840.

E-mail Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.