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Hurricane Dorian Threatens Thousands Of Sea Turtle Nests

As Hurricane Dorian's wrath continues to pound the Atlantic coast, concerns have surfaced about what will happen to Florida's sea turtles.

This has been a record nesting year for green turtles, so they're particularly vulnerable to being eroded away because of the storm. David Godfrey is executive director of the , based in Gainesville.

"It's likely that thousands of sea turtle nests will be lost because of the erosion that's going to happen as Dorian makes its way up the east coast," he said.

If you come across a nest, Godrey says you should leave it alone.

"It is unfortunate and somewhat tragic to think about," he said. "Many of these beaches where the turtles are, we're expecting them to be completely overrun, completely washed out. And so even if you move them back or up into the dune, that's not going to survive either."

But the adult turtles? They are going to be okay. Godfrey says the conservancy is tracking one loggerhead that has been sitting off the coast of the Bahamas throughout the storm, coming up to breathe only during a break in the waves.

"What seems to be an unsurvivable climactic event to people," he said, "isn't neccessary harmful to a sea turtle."

Sea turtle tracks on Sunny Isles Beach
Credit Mark Schreiner / WUSF Public Media
/
The Florida Channel
Sea turtle tracks on Sunny Isles Beach

Sea turtle nest on Sunny Isles Beach
Mark Schreiner / WUSF Public Media
/
The Florida Channel
Sea turtle nest on Sunny Isles Beach

Sea turtel nest on Sunny Isles Beach
Mark Schreiner / WUSF Public Media
/
The Florida Channel
Sea turtel nest on Sunny Isles Beach

Sea turtle tracks on Sunny Isles Beach
Mark Schreiner / WUSF Public Media
/
The Florida Channel
Sea turtle tracks on Sunny Isles Beach

Copyright 2019 WUSF Public Media - WUSF 89.7

Steve Newborn is WUSF's assistant news director as well as a reporter and producer at WUSF covering environmental issues and politics in the Tampa Bay area.