Sea Turtles Are Finally Thriving Now People Are Stuck Indoors

Sea turtles in Florida are thriving thanks to stay at home orders which are allowing them to nest in peace. 

As well as helping the human population, experts have found that quarantining is proving beneficial to leatherback sea turtles nesting on Juno Beach, which is thought to be the most densely nested sea turtle beach in the world.

Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Florida monitors the beach every year to ensure nests are not disturbed by people or dogs. If the nests are disturbed, they can become exposed to the hot Florida weather and reach lethal temperatures.

So far this year, very early in the season, the centre has already counted 79 nests, with numbers ‘significantly more than normal’, CBS Miami reports. Nearly all the nests are from the largest living sea turtles, leatherbacks, which are classed as vulnerable by the WWF.

Sarah Hirsch, the senior manager of research and data at Loggerhead Marinelife Center, told WPEC News:

Our leatherbacks are coming in strong this year. It’s going to be a really good year for our leatherbacks.

We’re excited to see our turtles thrive in this environment. Our world has changed, but these turtles have been doing this for millions of years and it’s just reassuring and gives us hope that the world is still going on.

Marine life is also thought to be benefiting from the lack of boats, as Hirsch said sea turtles are now mating close to the shore, near the surface of the water.

Loggerhead Marinelife Center will continue to collect data to see how sea life will be affected overall throughout the season, which will come to an end on October 31.

Though there’s still a long season ahead, researchers are optimistic for the sea turtles.

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