By zkotala, University of Central Florida, Sept 3, 2015 – Endangered green sea turtles, once on the brink of disappearing, love Florida beaches, and for a second time in the past three years they are setting records.
University of Central Florida researchers counted 12,026 green turtle nests in the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge along Brevard County’s coastline this week, shattering a record the turtles set in 2013 with 11,839 nests. It is the first time green turtle nests have surpassed 12,000. And the nesting season still has two months to go.
For video of baby green turtles heading toward the ocean from Archie Carr click here.
“This is really a comeback story,” said Kate Mansfield, a UCF assistant professor of biology and lead of the Marine Turtle Research Group, a team of students and research scientists who monitor turtle counts on the beach during turtle nesting season — May 1 to Oct. 1 each year.
