The Palm Spot

06/25/2020

Turtle count....

Once again, nest counts provided by data collected by UCF Marine Turtle Reseach Group, Sebastian Inlet State Park and Ecological Research, Inc. for the 20.5 miles of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge.

05/15/2020

The turtles are here 🐢

First compilation of the 2020 season of the sea turtle nests in the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge. The 20.5 mile stretch of beach designated as the Carr Refuge is monitored in three parts. Sebastian Inlet State Park reports the nesting activity in the 3 miles of the beaches in the State Park. University of Central Florida Marine Turtle Research Group monitors and reports the activity north of the Park to the northern boundary of the Refuge near Melbourne Beach. Envorinmental Associates, Inc. monitors and reports the nesting south of the Park to the southern boundary of Refuge.

Chris Long of UCF noted that the first Green Turtle nest was found on May 12, 2020. Usually the first Green nest is found in the last week of May. This is the second earliest date that a Green nest has been found.

02/07/2020

These whales are amazing!

08/30/2019

Hoping these nests are not disturbed too bad by Dorian...🙏🏻

Nesting for green turtles continued at a high rate while Tropical Storm, now Hurricane, Dorian continues its move to Florida. Less than 100 Loggerhead nests were counted in the past week, but 1460 Green nests were found. The Green nest record seems certain to fall in the current week.

Thanks again to UCF, Sebastian Inlet State Park and Ecological Associates, Inc. for this monitoring effort. Good luck in the week ahead when Dorian disrupts our beach.

08/10/2019

Wow!! Let’s set a record!!

Almost 25,000 sea turtle nests have been counted in the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge so far this season. Green turtle nesting ahead of the 2017 count on this date by 2800 nests. So a record could be set this year for Greens. Loggerhead nesting is still going strong with 744 nests in this reporting period.

Chris Long of UCF reports:
"On August 1st, we had our best day of green turtle nesting EVER! On just that day, we counted 383 green turtle nests! The next closest day was August 21st, 2017, which had 366 nests on another turtle-filled morning.

To put these numbers and the amazing green turtle recovery in perspective, think about this for a second: those 383 nests were more than any YEAR from 1982-1989. Amazing! Don't ever let anyone tell you the Endangered Species Act isn't important!"

Thanks again to everyone who is involved in monitoring the turtles and providing this data.

08/10/2019

Happy ! Today we are going to talk about the Blue Land Crab (Cardisoma guanhumi). Although they usually hang out in their burrows, you may have seen these critters crossing A1A recently. That's because we are in the middle of their spawning season! Males will leave their burrows to reproduce with the females, and then the females will carry the eggs externally for two weeks. The eggs will hatch and the larvae will be released into saltwater in order for them to survive, this is what makes the females migrate across A1A and on to the beach! Males are usually blue (pictured), while females can be light gray or white.

Photo: Victoria Escandell

07/16/2019

Big numbers!

The nest counts continue to increase rapidly in the Carr Refuge. 1473 Green nests were counted during the past week in comparison ro 875 Loggerhead nests.

Katrina Phillips of the UCF MTRG reported that "The greens are keeping steady with over 200 nests per day in the (UCF portion of the) Refuge for the past few days, they may end up passing the loggerhead total soon. Time will tell if they will pass the 2017 recored of 15,830!" (Note: in the UCF portion of the Refuge from the Sebastian Inlet State Park boundary north).

The Green turtle photo was taken yesterday at sunrise in the Refuge.

Thanks again to all of the nest monitors who collect and share the data.

07/08/2019

Big numbers this year!!!! Go turtles!

I, Vince Lamb, accept responsibility for the late nest count numbers this week. I thought I would be able to find enough Internet access in the Galapagos Islands to receive the numbers and post the counts, but it didn’t happen. I usually get the weekly counts on Sunday (EAI on Friday), so I should be able to post the current week data tomorrow.

Katrina Phillips of UCF reports: “Green turtles are laying more nests per week at this point than loggerheads, with over 800 loggerhead nests in the last week and over 1000 green nests. We might be near the peak of loggerhead nesting, but the greens are just getting going!”

Loggerhead nest counts are up by almost 800 compared to this date last year (8378 vs. 7605). Green nest counts far exceeded the count on this date of last year (151) and far exceeded 2017 at this date (1347). In 2017, the final Green Turtle nest count exceeded 17,000, a record year for the Carr Refuge.

Big thanks to the staff and volunteers of the UCF Marine Turtle Research Group, Sebastian Inlet State Park and Ecological Associates, Inc. for collecting and sharing this data.

06/17/2019

We're approaching the end of - 7 days highlighting the 7 sea turtle species. Today we celebrate the leatherback sea turtle, which is the largest turtle in the world. Most leatherbacks weigh in around 1000 pounds, but the largest leatherback ever measured was over 2000 pounds!

We had three new leatherback nests in the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge this week. As of June 15, our total nest counts in the Brevard county portion of the Refuge are:

Loggerheads - 4,914 nests
Green turtles - 1,100 nests
Leatherbacks - 30 nests
Kemp's ridley - 1 nest

Photo: UCF-MTRG staff member Taylor with a leatherback that nested in the Refuge early in the morning (though they usually nest at night).

06/12/2019

❤️

05/28/2019

Yeah turtles!

The latest nest count numbers from the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge. Thanks to the University of Central Florida, Sebastian Inlet State Park and Ecological Associates, Inc. for reporting these counts.

Note that 3,072 Loggerhead nests have been counted. Nighttime turtle walks start in 5 days. Looks like the turtles will be present.

05/02/2019

Happy Sea Turtle Nesting Season!! It's officially "lights out" time! Keep it clean, flat, and dark for the turtles.

03/04/2019

Book a relaxing week. Don’t forget to bring your metal detector!

02/27/2019

Yeah... they are coming!!!

THEY'RE HERE!! The first leatherback nest of the season was reported in Florida yesterday, February 26th! We're so excited and cannot wait for the upcoming season.

08/26/2018

Come see them hatch!

08/11/2018

05/25/2018

How many have you seen?

Ever wondered how dune construction on the Carr Refuge affects turtle nesting? UCF and Brevard County are on the case! Any time there is construction on the beach, UCF is contracted by Brevard County to monitor this construction for impacts. The photo below shows one of our new interns collecting data on how high up on the beach a turtle went before turning around without nesting, which helps us understand the impacts of construction.

Through May 25th, we have recorded the following counts of nests on the Brevard County portion of the Archie Carr NWR:

Loggerheads- 1,368 nests
Leatherbacks- 8 nests
Green turtles- 0 nests

Photo credit: K. Phillips, UCFMTRG

04/30/2018

They are coming soon!

One week from today! Sea Turtle Nesting Season Begins!!!

Make sure you know the routine! Help our visitors to the area become familiar with the local Sea Turtle Nesting routine too.

Together we can make it a safe and productive year for our Turtles.

04/22/2018

Today and EVERYDAY!

04/18/2018

This is the current situation at The Palm Spot .... BEAUTIFUL FORECAST and we have LAST MINUTE AVAILABLITY ... for the next 7 days the house is available and can be yours ... sleeps 6 with separate bathrooms in each bedroom and a pool. Out the front door and there is the beach! Weather forecast looks great. There is even a rocket launch tonight! Put a group of 6 together and it becomes even cheaper! No hotels to be found at these prices. Message me if interested -- hate to see you miss out on it!

02/23/2018

They are coming.... 🐢

02/02/2018

Will you be watching ....

There’s a big, big launch coming up on Florida’s Space Coast on Feb. 6, courtesy of SpaceX – one of the biggest and brightest launches in recent years.

01/01/2018

See what is happening nearby....

Hope to see you at the Barrier Island Center next year! Please peruse our January calendar here...

10/30/2017

look up...

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Set To Launch Today From Cape Canaveral. Launch window opens at 3:34 p.m. EDT. http://spacecoastdaily.com/2017/10/watch-live-spacex-falcon-9-rocket-set-to-launch-today-from-cape-canaveral/

09/18/2017

more babies!

08/18/2017

A two headed turtle?!

07/21/2017

Come see the turtles nesting and hopefully see them hatching too!

Leatherback nesting on the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge has likely come to an end. Our last leatherback nest was on July 10. But leatherback hatching is in full swing! Leatherback nests take a little longer to incubate than green turtle and loggerhead nests. There will be several leatherback nests hatching on the Refuge in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for hatchling tracks like the ones shown here.

The nest totals as of today on the Brevard County portion of the Refuge are -
Leatherback: 20 nests
Loggerhead: 7,491 nests
Green: 5,264 nests

Image credit: K. Phillips

07/17/2017

07/17/2017

07/17/2017

Introducing The Palm Spot .... The Palm Spot is the sister location to The Turtle Spot. Located in the tranquil setting of Melbourne Beach, this property has 3 bedrooms 3.5 baths and comfortably sleeps 6. The house is on A1A and only a few steps from the front door to the private beach entrance! Don't want to go to the beach? Stay home and swim in the pool! Let us help you plan the perfect vacation. There are lots of things to do ... or you can do nothing and unwind! Greatly reduced rates for the rest of the summer so book your reservations now!!