Florida's Turtle Nesting Starts Early
Posted on: Monday, 18 February 2008, 12:00 CST
Wildlife officials say turtle-nesting season in Boca Raton, Fla., got off to an early start this year.
Leatherback turtles began coming ashore at Boca a good three weeks ahead of the usual March 1 start date for the nesting period.
Some scientists told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that they suspected warmer ocean waters triggered a natural instinct that leads the wandering reptiles to come ashore to lay their eggs.
But chances are it's more likely a function of increasing leatherback numbers, Blair Witherington, a researcher with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, told the Sun-Sentinel.
The Sun-Sentinel said there were a record 498 leatherback nests on the Boca beaches last year compared to 45 in 1989.
Source: United Press International
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