You’re just one obstacle to a sea turtle’s survival

KILL DEVIL HILLS

Sea turtles are fussy about where they nest in Cape Hatteras National Seashore, but even the best locales are often wiped out by a storm or targeted by one of many predators.

Even in areas devoid of human activity, turtles have crawled out of the ocean, only to turn back around. And the light that disorients hatchlings may sometimes not come from a car or a truck, but from a lighthouse.

It happens occasionally, but determining how many might be inadvertently run over by off-road vehicles is not an exact science.

“What are the specific problems here?” Patrick Paquette, a representative of the national seashore access program for the Recreational Fishing Alliance, asked Sandy MacPherson, national sea turtle coordinator for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Paquette was one of several members on a negotiated rulemaking committee working on a long-term ORV management plan who grilled MacPherson on Friday after her presentation at Wright Brothers National Memorial, “Beach Driving and Sea Turtles.”

MacPherson, who has been the sea turtle coordinator for 15 years, said she did not know all the data about Cape Hatteras, but there are consistent behavior patterns sea turtles exhibit everywhere that should be considered in creating a beach driving plan.

As an example of an effective plan, MacPherson cited Volusia County in Florida, where driving and conservation zones were established in consideration of turtle nesting areas. The plan included education, training, light mitigation, turtle rehabilitation and rut removal.

“The service considers it a resounding success,” MacPherson said.

Loggerhead turtles are the largest population of sea turtles in Cape Hatteras, followed by green and leatherback . All are protected under the Endangered Species Act.

In general, MacPherson said, beach driving can deter nesting and decrease its success. Headlights used in night driving can confuse hatchlings, who tend to walk toward the light, thinking it’s the bright horizon. The blinking of a lighthouse is not as disorienting, she said. The babies also can get stuck in tire ruts.

Nesting females can be spooked easily as they emerge from the ocean.

“A lot of times they won’t come out the water or the swash zone because of activities on the beach,” she said.

If the sand is compacted, they may not be able to dig a nest, or they’ll dig a shallow one, she said. And if the natural vegetation is destroyed by driving, then the beach will be unstable.

Relocating nests may sound like a great management solution, but it’s not as ideal as it seems, she said. First, some nests may be missed by turtle watchers. Then, handling can damage the embryo and alter the incubation environment.

Nests should be moved, MacPherson said, only if they’re threatened by tide, erosion or a wall of sand.

Larry Hardham, with the Cape Hatteras Anglers Club, said about 50 percent of nests that are in the park after July fail. So why not move them to a better area before that happens?

“It seems to me that we have the figures available to us to improve hatchling success,” he said.

Michelle Bogardus, the seashore’s lead sea turtle biotechnician, said there was a total of 112 sea turtle nests in the seashore this year. Of them, 19 were relocated. There were also 103 false crawls, or aborted nesting attempts.

“Last year, we had a huge amount of false crawls on South Beach when it was closed,” she told the committee. “It may or may not have anything to do with human disturbance; it may have to do with sand quality. We don’t really know.”

Captive breeding is also often proposed as a solution, MacPherson said, but it is impractical because the turtles it produces are less successful at breeding. There is also concern that the captive-bred turtles may be susceptible to disease and have inadequate homing instincts.

But committee member Scott Leggat, who represents the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce, said there could also be positive effects.

“Aren’t the young hatchlings less likely to be subject to predation in the captive programs than when they enter the water immediately?” he asked. “While there may be disadvantages form the captive breeding programs, it seems like the slant is completely on the negative.”

MacPherson said she did not have definitive answers.

“This is not intended to say that beach driving is the only concern for their survival,” she said. “This is just one of many.”

Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711, cate.kozak@pilotonline.com