Happy Turtles in Florida Beach’s Lockdown: Breed More, Survive Better

The COVID-19 lockdown is leading to good news for endangered leatherback sea turtles in Florida, USA: without tourists and waste to impact their chances of survival, marine life researchers are expecting a major boost in this year’s nesting season.

The Loggerhead MarineLife Center in the state’s Juno Beach have already found 76 nests of the leatherback sea turtles – significantly more than the same stage last year.

“The chances that turtles are going to be inadvertently struck and killed will be lower,” says David Godfrey, executive director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy. “All of the reduced human presence on the beach also means that there will be less garbage and other plastics entering the marine environment.”

“We expect that thousands of hatchlings that ordinarily would be disoriented by lights this nesting season will not be, and are more likely to survive to reach the sea,” he adds.