17/05/2024
I know many who come to the beach want to have a good time and don’t think about filling in the holes or leaving trash around. But it is turtle nesting season. This hole and others were found this morning in Garden City. Here are some tips from our friends at S.C.U.TE. that will help you and the turtles.
1. When you leave the beach each evening, take your belongings and trash with you. Balloons and plastics are particularly dangerous because they look like turtles’ favorite food – jellyfish — when floating in the water. And please take down your shelters, beach chairs and tents as they present an entanglement danger to the turtles, and they can create obstructions which frighten the mothers and cause them to leave the beach without laying their eggs.
2. Please fill in your holes so that neither turtles nor people fall in them or over them overnight.
3. Lights out, please. It is VERY important to have a dark beach for the turtles to come ashore and lay their eggs. Artificial lighting (flashlights, glow sticks, and camera flashes) disorients the babies and discourages the mothers. After dark, please turn off outdoor lighting and shut curtains or blinds where indoor lighting can be seen from the beach. And do not use flashlights on the beach at night. They are just as detrimental as a floodlight.
4. Do Not Disturb! If you see a turtle nesting, please respect her needs and leave her alone to take care of Nature’s work. It’s okay to watch quietly from a distance, but do not take pictures or shine lights in her direction, and certainly do not disturb the nest in any way. Disturbing any sea turtle, its nest or its eggs is punishable under Federal law and carries large fines and possible jail sentencing.
If you see a turtle on the beach, leave it alone! If it is injured or somehow in distress, call this number, 800-922-5431, and record the nature of the problem and the location of the turtle.
📸 Melissa Horner
