NATURE OF HUMAN OCEAN
One revealed that sea turtles prefer cleaner
beaches. Researchers from University of Florida (UF) studied nesting
beaches along the Florida Panhandle, which has one of the highest nesting
densities of loggerheads in the northern Gulf of Mexico. They found that when
beaches were cleared of debris, the number of sea turtle nests increased by as
many as 200. However, when debris was left on the beach, the number of nests
decreased by nearly 50%. In this study, debris included natural things, like
fallen trees, and manmade things, like concrete, pipes, and metal fencing.
“Our results showed that the presence of large debris on a sandy
beach could alter the distribution of sea turtle nests by influencing turtle
nest site selection,” Ikuko Fujisaki, assistant research professor of wildlife
ecology and conservation with the UF Institute of Food and Agricultural
Sciences, said in a news release.
Another study led by the University of Western Australia, the
Australian Institute of Marine Science, and the Department of Parks and
Wildlife measured the impact of artificial light on sea turtles.
Researchers tracked the movements of green sea turtle hatchlings around Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. They found that 90% of hatchlings swam towards the artificial light, thinking it was the moon.
“It is widely known that artificial lighting near turtle nesting
beaches attracts turtle hatchlings as they emerge from nests and can cause them
to have trouble finding the sea,” UWA Professor of Coastal Oceanography,
Charitha Pattiaratchi, explained in a news release. “But understanding what happens once they reach
the sea and how lights on water from sources such as boats, ports and wharves
affect them has been unknown up until now because we lacked a simple means to
track them.”
The results of this study may have implications for the management
of coastal development.
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