Big girls

Hi Kelly, Great work you guys are doing. Im glad you guys can be there to help Clover. What other research projects have you and your team worked on. I heard you had done some research on shipping lanes and the affect on turtles. What was the outcome?

Thank you Dominic. Great question! Clover is missing the majority of her rear flippers from what appears to be multiple shark interactions. While it doesn’t appear to affect her survival, it does prevent her from digging a chamber to deposit her eggs. Without human assistance, Clover drops her eggs at the surface of the sand and they do not survive. So when we encounter Clover (and lucky for her she nests on a beach where our researchers happen to be), we quietly sit behind her and dig a hole. Sea turtles do not recognize when they are missing limbs so Clover still goes about the nesting process as if nothing has changed. She lays her eggs in the hole we provide and moves along. Over the years, we have helped hundreds of Clover’s hatchlings survive. We recognize that without human assistance, Clover’s offspring would not survive but Clover herself seems to do quite well without us. She is one of our largest turtles and has been around since we started the project. We’ve seen her 22 times since her first encounter in 2003. Sea turtles rely on their large and powerful front flippers for movement and power. Rear flippers are used primarily for steering. While we don’t know the exact effect that her missing flippers have on her, it doesn’t not appear to be affecting her survival.

You mentioned that Clover lost her fins to shark bites. How is she able to survive in the wild? Or has she only lost part of her fins?

We use red LED lights for two reasons. Leatherbacks, loggerheads and Green sea turtles are not really affected by very narrow spectrum, red light. They do see the light, but do not appear to be bothered by the lights when they are used CAREFULLY. As we are conducting our work with leatherbacks, there are many other turtles nesting at the same time. It is very important that we do not impact any turtles while they are on the beach. We are permitted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to use these lights. Another reason we use red lights is so we do not affect our night vision. Our team does not use any type of lighting on our ATV's as we traverse the beach. After about thirty minutes in the dark, our eyes have adjusted to the moon, stars and sky glow and it is surprising how well anyone can see once their eyes adjust. Any type of white light quickly bleaches out Rhodopsin, a pigment in the rods of our retinas that allow us to see in dim light. These pigments are not as sensitive to the narrow spectrum red LED lights and our night vision is minimally affected. We only use these lights while we are working alongside the turtles. Each year, our team sees a lot of beachgoers walking down the beach at night with red lights. They must remember that the turtles are able to see these lights and are often spooked by the movement of the red lights. It could also be considered harassment to have any type of flashlight while viewing turtles at night without a permit. Dark beaches are better for turtles.

Thanks Kelly! What about the red lights? Why do you use them?