ORLANDO, Fla. — Hurricane Dorian washed away at least 8,000 sea turtle nests in Brevard County, according to UCF researchers.
- UCF researchers say 8,000 turtle nests in Brevard washed out by Dorian
- Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge is important turtle nesting ground
- Despite washouts, researchers said it was just past peak nesting season
The survey was conducted on the Brevard side of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, which stretches south between southern Brevard into Indian River County.
"Based on our surveys of the Brevard portion of the refuge, we estimate that Dorian washed away about 20% of the loggerhead nests from this season and about 45% of green turtle nests from this season. That’s more than 8,000 nests," said Katrina Phillips, a doctoral candidate and senior member of UCF’s Marine Turtle Research Group.
The wildlife refuge is an important nesting ground for threatened and endangered sea turtles. Leatherback, loggerhead, and green sea turtles use the refuge during their nesting season, which runs from March to October.
UCF biology professor Kate Mansfield said the news was actually optimistic. The peak season for loggerheads and leatherbacks had already passed.
"Hurricanes are never good for people or turtles," she said. "This one storm isn’t going to doom any of these species. We’ll have to observe and look at the total numbers at the end of the season before we can say definitively what the impact may be, but thankfully Dorian hit past the peak season for two of our three residents. The turtles will be back to nest again in future seasons."
Teams witnessed green turtles laying eggs a day after Dorian passed, they said.
"The green sea turtle season is still going strong," Phillips said.