Tampa Bay Sun

The struggles of sea turtles to reach their nesting locations every year have been well-publicized in recent years by conservancy groups. A program in Tampa Bay was one of the earliest programs to investigate the movements and behavior of the species. Dr. Dave Nelson, a member of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Waterways Experiment Station, developed the project. He captured and tagged a male loggerhead, named Jason, in August of 1997. More loggerheads were captured in November, including a female named Debbie. The project continued through 1998.The capture of the males was especially well-planned (or lucky, considering on your perspective), since males usually don’t leave the water except to pursue females through the surf. Sea turtles may not have their habitats to return to in the near future, however, if we don’t face the consequences our current actions are having, including: hunting turtles for meat; commercial fishing; entanglement in marine debris; and a thriving illegal shell trade. The Army Corps of Engineers’ study was designed to protect the turtles during the dredging of Tampa Bay. Read the rest of this entry »