Nesting birds and sea turtles break records at Cape Hatteras National Seashore

[depakid]

With the breeding season still underway, 2010 is already a record-breaking year for rare sea turtles and waterbirds that nest on beaches at Cape Hatteras National Seashore, according to preliminary numbers from the National Park Service.

According to the National Seashore’s August 23, 2010 press release, 147 sea turtle nests have been recorded to date, the most nests ever documented at the seashore and part of 835 nests reported statewide this year (as of today) by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. The previous record at the seashore was 111 nests in 2008. The numbers may increase as the 2010 turtle nesting season continues for several more weeks.

Additionally, a record 15 piping plover chicks survived to fledge or learn to fly, the highest number ever documented since record-keeping began in 1992. Before current off-road vehicle management practices were implemented in April 2008, piping plover numbers within Cape Hatteras National Seashore declined to an all-time low of no chicks surviving to fledging in 2002 and 2004. The population of piping plovers that nest at Cape Hatteras is listed as “threatened” under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Likewise, 25 American oystercatcher chicks fledged from the Seashore’s beaches in 2010, with one unfledged chick remaining. An additional four chicks fledged on the Seashore’s uninhabited Green Island. This is the highest number of fledged chicks for that sensitive species reported at the Seashore since records have been kept.

Under an April 2008 consent decree, off-road vehicle (ORV) use is restricted in designated bird and turtle nesting areas on the seashore during their nesting seasons. The consent decree employs science-based protection measures that provide the minimum buffer distances needed to protect nesting birds and chicks from vehicles and human disturbance, as well as restrictions on night driving that are vital for nesting sea turtles.

Although a variety of factors including weather and predators can affect nesting success, scientific research, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recovery plan for the loggerhead sea turtle, confirms the importance of limiting ORV driving in turtle nesting areas.

The number of sea turtle nests at Cape Hatteras constitutes 17.6 percent of all the nests laid in North Carolina in 2010 to date, as compared to only 11.5 percent in 2000-2007, the eight years immediately prior to current beach driving protections going into effect. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has set a recovery goal of 200 loggerhead sea turtles at Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

“We are heartened by these impressive nesting numbers,” said Walker Golder, deputy director of Audubon North Carolina. “The unique waterbirds and sea turtles that depend on Cape Hatteras are a vital part of what makes the Seashore a national treasure. These nesting numbers illustrate that vehicles and wildlife can share the beach as long as sound, science-based protection measures are in place.”

More: http://www.defenders.org/newsroom/press_releases_folder/2010/08_25_2010_nesting_birds_and_sea_turtles_break_records_at_cape_hatteras_national_seashore.php

[hatrack]

1. Well there's a refreshing change!

:hi:

[woodsprite]

2. Thanks for the article. I love Cape Hatteras!

I missed our usual vacation down there this year. I love watching the birds and other wildlife, and the fact my cell phone doesn't work down there :) Hoping to go sometime over Thanksgiving break, but that may have to change. My daughter is playing in her HS orchestra at the Kennedy Center. Wonder if hubby would consider it worth the 6 hr drive to trek east right after the concert. If we did that, we could still get 4 days in before we'd have to drive home. :)

[geckosfeet]

3. Indicates that when we make the effort we can help species rebound.

Unfortunately the resources devoted to these efforts pales in comparison to to that of, oh say, building new fighter aircraft. The money paid to build one fighter aircraft would fund these types of effort for a generation.

[stuntcat]

4. oh yay MY state

*pride* :D

I'm worried about the Outer Banks disappearing someday.