More than one million turtle eggs were washed away by the Florida hurricanes this year, according to the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, the nation’s oldest sea turtle conservation group. Nearly 90 percent of all sea turtle nesting in the continental U.S. takes place in Florida, with most of it concentrated on the Central East Coast--exactly where hurricanes Frances and Jeanne came ashore in the middle of nesting season.

Over time, natural beaches would recover to a healthy profile and nesting would return to normal. However, Florida’s coastline is no longer in its natural state. Throughout the peninsula, turtle nesting beaches have been built upon extensively, and beaches are being altered by inlets, jetties, seawalls and repetitive sand pumping projects. The long-term threat to sea turtles resulting from these storms will be determined by the way humans respond to protect coastal property. Right now, scores of beachfront residents are hurrying to get permits to build seawalls, sand-dumping projects, or other experimental structures that pose a direct risk to sea turtles. Many of these technologies failed to provide the storm protection they were designed to deliver.

“In short,” says CCC’s David Godfrey, “CCC is advancing the notion that it is in all our interests, including sea turtles, to challenge short-sighted approaches to coastal management and to stimulate discussions about more environmentally and economically sound options.” For more information visit www.cccturtle.org; or read Godfrey’s latest article at http://www.cccturtle.org/velador/velart52.htm.

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