Elsa wipes away 45 sea turtle nests on Sanibel

1 / 6

SCCF Jack Brzoza uses a Trimble device after Tropical Storm Elsa.

2 / 6

SCCF SCCF's data loggers captured the water level, temperature and moisture changes inside 38 nest chambers during Tropical Storm Elsa. It is evident that the storm surge and heavy rain caused the bottom of this nest to become inundated for about three hours. Nests can withstand some degree of wash-over during incubation but standing water can negatively impact hatching success.

3 / 6

SCCF SCCF's data loggers captured the water level, temperature and moisture changes inside 38 nest chambers during Tropical Storm Elsa. It is evident that the storm surge and heavy rain caused the bottom of this nest to become inundated for about three hours. Nests can withstand some degree of wash-over during incubation but standing water can negatively impact hatching success.

4 / 6

SCCF Nest washover from Tropical Storm Elsa.

5 / 6

SCCF Marking a nest after Tropical Storm Elsa.

6 / 6

SCCF Stakes down as a result of Tropical Storm Elsa.

[expand]

close

Tropical Storm Elsa’s strong southern winds caused 125 sea turtle nests on Sanibel and Captiva to lose their marking stakes and protective screens, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation reported.

As of July 14, sea turtle staff members had been working diligently over the past week to confirm whether the eggs washed away, too, or if they are still buried in the sand.

Using coordinates collected with a Trimble device, staff were able to confirm that 40 of the 85 nests that lost their stakes on Sanibel survived the extreme tidal action. However, 45 nests were completely washed out, according to SCCF Coastal Wildlife Director Kelly Sloan.

The assessment on Captiva was still underway as of July 14.

Staff noted that sea turtles have a nesting strategy that accommodates natural storm events. Female sea turtles deposit several nests throughout the nesting season, essentially hedging their bets to make sure that even if a hurricane or tropical storm hits during season, there is a high probability at least a few of the nests will incubate successfully.

For instance, last year Tropical Storm Cristobal washed away 29 nests and Topical Storm Sally washed away 17 nests on Sanibel and Captiva. Yet, there were still a record-breaking 924 nests last year.