By Dean Vanderbleek For Hometown News
Sea turtles are returning to Volusia County to nest in near-record numbers so far this season.
However, the turtles are finding the beaches much changed following the unprecedented, catastrophic erosion of the county’s coastline during last fall’s back-to-back tropical storms and ensuing winter nor’easters.
The once wide, dry sand portion of the beach, where turtles nested, is much narrower and practically non-existent due to significant sand loss. Normal non-storm high tides regularly wash over the county’s marked 30-foot wide vehicle-free conservation zone, where beach driving is allowed, wetting and packing the dry sand turtles need for nesting.
While most of the concrete, rebar, rock, wood and other storm damage debris piled and scattered on the beach was removed in the months following the storms, a few piles remain where sea walls once stood and some debris is still buried beneath the sand in Daytona Beach and Daytona Beach Shores, areas that took the brunt of storm damage, making it difficult for nesting turtles to dig a suitable chamber to deposit eggs.
There also are new obstacles, put in place as emergency measures to prevent additional erosion, awaiting nesting sea turtles. In urban Daytona Beach Shores and other populated areas along Volusia’s damaged Atlantic coast, earth-retaining interlocking fiberglass or steel panels and sand-filled TrapBags have been installed in front of county and private property as temporary measures to protect eroded oceanfront property until a permanent sea wall is built and the dune is restored.
When sea turtles return to the foot of the dune to nest and find an armored beach with hard objects where there used to be soft sand, more often than not they will give up depositing the eggs and “false crawl” back to the ocean. According to Beth Libert, head of Volusia Turtle Patrol, there are a record number of false crawls this year on the stretch of Volusia’s coast she and the volunteers monitor from Ponce Inlet north to Flagler County.
In Volusia South, the part of the coast stretching from Ponce Inlet north through Daytona Beach Shores up to Sun Splash Park in Daytona Beach, Ms. Libert’s June data shows Loggerhead false crawls were triple the number of nests. When asked about other unusual observations this season, Ms. Libert said the turtles seem confused, and several have crawled up beach approaches to nest, one on Demotte Avenue in the Shores and another went up Seminole Avenue in Ormond Beach and nested in a vacant lot.
Throughout the six-month long sea turtle nesting season, ending Oct. 31, Ms. Libert and the Turtle Patrol volunteers must “clear the beach” by surveying the previous night’s turtle activity before public and non-emergency vehicle access. Due to the need to allow post-storm repair and recovery to continue, construction equipment is permitted to access the beach during nesting season this year.
In early June, a backhoe parked east of the Demotte beach access ramp’s locked gate was operated early in the morning before the beach was cleared by the patrol, partially obscuring a turtle crawl from the previous night, making it impossible to accurately locate and mark the nest, and consequently relocate the eggs when necessary. When a nest is discovered in a perilous location where it can be impacted or destroyed, it may be relocated to a safer location on the beach before 9 a.m. by a Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission permit holder, such as Ms. Libert.
The morning of the incident, Volusia County Environmental Management Division staff and law enforcement officers met with the FWC turtle permit holder to evaluate what happened. The following week, the county set up a maned booth on the ramp to monitor compliance with permit requirements for operating equipment on the beach during turtle nesting season. In the days that followed, heavy afternoon rains came and stormwater ran down the ramp to the beach, exposing the eggs.
When asked if construction equipment stored and/or operated on the ramp impacted the turtle’s crawl and/or location of the nest, Environmental Management responded:
“In reference to the gathering of different entities, this was initiated due to the discovery of tire markings over crawl tracks. Although a clutch was not found, the permit holder took proactive measures by setting up a nest barrier as a precautionary step. Additionally, the county reported this incident to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, classifying it as a “take” even though it cannot be confirmed if the wildlife was negatively impacted.
The nest was not relocated because the clutch could not be found. To acquire specific details, it is recommended to contact the permit holder directly.”
Ms. Libert said the patrol dug and searched for the clutch, but it wasn’t located given what happened before we cleared the beach, so the most likely nest area was marked. She added, “We don’t usually relocate, but this one we would due to stormwater. We’ve already moved a dozen or so nests this season due to runoff.”
Volusia, in conjunction with the contracted services of Ecological Associates, is tasked with managing 36 miles of beach for compliance with the county’s Habitat Conservation Plan. The HCP is part of the federal permit the county has that protects endangered sea turtles and their nesting habitat by minimizing the potential impact (take) county beach-related ordinances regulating activities (vehicular access, beach driving and oceanfront lighting) from unlawful taking.
The county’s HCP was created in response to the initial lawsuit filed by plaintiffs Shirley Reynolds and Rita Alexander by Lesley Blackner, P.A. against the Volusia County Council in August 1995 on behalf of the loggerhead and green sea turtle species using the area seaward of the dune for nesting. The suit accused the county of violating the Endangered Species Act, which prohibits the “taking” of a federally listed endangered species without a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
When asked if observations and data collected during this year’s nesting season will be used to address impacts on nesting sea turtles for inevitable future events, Environmental Management responded:
“We monitor and document every sea turtle emergence crawl that occurs on our beach. This information is thoroughly assessed at the conclusion of each season and compiled into an annual report. Moreover, the data is consistently reviewed at regular intervals to identify emerging patterns and trends, facilitating informed decision-making regarding beach management and facilitating effective future planning.”
