Wednesday, October 06, 2004 at 03:33 AM EDT

Turtle protections working

By PETER GUINTA
Staff Writer

Even though driving is allowed on St. Johns County beaches, apparently the presence of vehicles hasn't harmed nesting sea turtles.

The number of sea turtles hatching this season is again high, indicating that turtle protections have been effective in keeping poachers, predators and vehicles away from delicate nests, eggs and hatchlings.

Evelyn Stauber of St. Augustine Beach, who holds a state permit to count turtle nests, said 91 percent of turtle eggs in her 5.5-mile stretch of beach had hatched.

''When a turtle lays too low, too close to the water, we move the nest back into the dunes, where it is out of the way. We move it one egg at a time, very carefully,'' she said.

Her beach stretches from Anastasia State Recreation Area to State Road 206, and the count was held from May until August, when the turtles were most actively laying their eggs.

It can take up to two months for the eggs to hatch.

In that section of beach, 12 volunteer nest counters under Stauber's direction found 13 loggerhead and three green turtle nests containing a total of 1,222 eggs. No leatherback turtle nests were counted.

Of all the eggs counted, 1,112 hatched, presumably with the resulting baby sea turtles reaching the sea.

''This year, we had 91 percent hatch. That's excellent,'' Stauber said.

Unfortunately, 28 hatchlings were found dead in their nests, 12 eggs were ''pipped,'' which means the little turtle was not able to break through its shell and died inside, and 98 eggs did not hatch.

Last year, the same section of beach contained 18 nests and 1,350 eggs, slightly more than this season, even though there were a few summer storms which washed away nests and drowned the eggs.

In 1999, 28 hatchlings died, 37 pipped and 235 eggs did not hatch.

When the eggs do hatch, the babies instinctively head seaward, trying to avoid gulls, fish and sharks. The hatchlings swim 30 to 60 miles to the Sargasso Sea in their first few days of life, and there hide in the floating seaweed, feeding on brine shrimp.

They live in the ocean their whole lives, migrating thousands of miles, even as far as the Mediterranean Sea and the Azores. When they are 12 years old, they return to lay eggs on the beach where they were born.

According to Linda Chandler, a park ranger and volunteer turtle counter at Fort Matanzas National Monument, the section of shore from Crescent Beach to Marineland contained 62 turtle nests, mostly loggerheads.

Eight were green turtles, a record for that section, she said.

''They seem to come in a cycle, and this might have been a good year for them,'' she said.

Chandler said turtles seem to like the south end of the county better than the harder sand farther north.

''The area where people drive is the least nested area,'' she said. ''The sand is soft and there are drop offs. It's not good for driving. Turtles really like the loose coquina sand, because it's easier to dig in.''

She said often turtles come up on a beach, then turn around without laying eggs, which is called ''non-nesting emergencies.''

''Something may not be right, whether the sand is too hard or a car is coming,'' she said. ''They go back in and come out again later, or in a different spot. They also like shorter beaches, where there's less distance to crawl. It's a big job for her to pull herself up like that.''

According to Robert Stoll, a Ponte Vedra Beach orthodontist and turtle volunteer, 274 loggerhead and three leatherback nests were recorded on St. Johns County beaches last year.

No green turtles were found last year. Stoll, like Chandler, believes the greens arrive in cycles, every two years.

But this year, there were a total of 278 loggerhead and 23 green turtle nests found in the county on all beaches. The average of the past 10 years is 242 nests per year, according to his figures.

Stoll said the ideas of having cars allowed to drive on the beach until 10 p.m. is contradictory with the county ordinance forbidding lights on the beach after sunset.

''There was a misorientation, with 98 dead hatchlings found in the dunes because a private home had a light on,'' he said. ''Someone did not abide the county ordinance. The ordinance passed two years ago, but had there been some enforcement, this never would have happened.''

Stauber said beachgoers are more cautious around turtles now.

''People don't want to get caught (bothering them) and be fined,'' she said. ''They stop me constantly while I'm patrolling and ask me questions. The public is better educated now.''

Penalties for taking or disturbing sea turtle nests, hatchlings, eggs or adults are stiff: State penalties range up to a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

On top of that, violators are charged $100 an egg if they have any in their possession. Plus there are civil penalties of $25,000 and criminal penalties of up to $50,000 possible.

It is also against the law to possess a sea turtle found dead.

However, nature takes its own toll on the nests, she said.

''One was washed away,'' Stauber said, adding that volunteers recorded at least six false crawls on her section of beach. A crawl is the dragging marks that a pregnant turtle makes in the sand when it comes onto the beach to lay its eggs. Its flippers mark the track.

''False crawls are caused when a turtle comes in to lay its eggs but is scared right back to the water by a car or someone coming up to them,'' she said.

''The empty nests could have been poached or had some other critter get into it.''