Loggerhead (Caretta Caretta) hatchlings
The Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch, Inc. is a community based, non-profit organization. The Sea Turtle Watch was formed to integrate a variety of activities focused on the conservation of Amelia Island's nesting sea turtle population. We are motivated by concern over the decline in nesting sea turtles brought on by commercial, developmental and recreational pressures and a sense of responsibility to moderate the adverse impact of human activities along our shore. Our conservation efforts are consistent with the imperatives of the Endangered Species Act of 1973. All of our intervention activity is conducted according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) guidelines and regulated and monitored by both FDEP and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The organization's primary function is to survey Amelia Island 's beaches during May through October, the months of sea turtle nesting and hatching, to collect accurate data on nesting activity and to enhance nesting success wherever possible. In May of each year survey areas are assigned to volunteers trained in survey procedures. Volunteers locate nests of crawls and report to coordinators. In a few areas where vehicular traffic/recreational activities, excessive development with severe artificial beachfront lighting, and beach renourishment activities impact the viability of nests, clutches are relocated to a safer natural beach site in the vicinity. After an incubation period of approximately 50-55 days, hatchlings emerge and crawl to the sea.
Loggerhead turtle (Caretta Caretta) crawl Green turtle (Chelonie Mydas) crawl
Although nest relocation represented the organization's primary seasonal activity during our beginning years, such intervention was considered an interim strategy and was gradually phased out when the negative factors which necessitated relocation were mitigated or eliminated. Relocation is carried out now only in extreme cases. Hoping to reestablish and sustain a stable sea. turtle nesting habitat on Amelia Island, we are concentrating our efforts on the identification, mitigation and elimination of hazards to the habitat.
Loggerhead turtle clutch Loggerhead turtle nest excavation

We are also a part of the stranding and salvage network of FDEP. We document the stranding of dead or injured sea turtles that wash ashore on our beaches and when necessary arrange for medical intervention and rehabilitation for the injured animals by appropriate agencies. This activity is not strictly seasonal. Sea turtles strand on our beaches year round and volunteers are trained to gather pertinent data on these animals and network this information to FDEP.

Central to our endeavor is public awareness of the need for sea turtle conservation. Slide presentations to school and community groups, periodic newsletters to supporters, reports of our activities in both print and television media augment our educational efforts. Many of our educational programs hitchhike on the programs offered by national conservation groups.

As well, we take an advocacy role that parallels the efforts of both governmental and environmental groups. We have successfully lobbied for lighting restrictions on both county and city beaches during nesting season. We continue to lobby for international sanctions against sea turtle habitat destruction by development and for sustained us of Turtle Excluder Devices(TED's) by commercial fishing trawlers. Locally, our views on the damage to our beach habitat by vehicular traffic to only a small parking area of select beach accesses.

The information we gather on nesting and stranded sea turtle is fed into a larger data base catalogued by FDEP. Our activity has helped the scientific community's ongoing research on sea turtle biology and habitat. We have participated directly with genetic research on mitochondria DNA in sea turtle families. This research led to an amazing discovery of 3 distinct families of nesting females on Florida beaches. We are also currently participating in a long term index nesting survey by FDEP and US Fish and Wildlife Service with the goal of determining nesting trends on select beaches throughout Florida.

Our survey and intervention has mitigated some potentially negative impacts of on going beach renourishment conducted by the Corps of Engineers and private resort shore stabilization groups. We have been contracted for our assistance in identifying and relocating nests threatened by such renourishment projects. With our compensation, we were able to purchase 2 All-terrain vehicles to be used in our island wide survey efforts.

Although the conservation of sea turtles and their habitat is our primary order of work, our volunteers have played vital roles in other areas of conservation. We regularly respond to calls concerning injured birds and transport them to the Bird Emergency Aid and Care Sanctuary (BEAKS) on Big Talbot Island. We were also instrumental in gathering data during the dolphin die-off in 1988 and we still work with the Marine Mammal Stranding network in the event of other stranded dolphins and whales. We continue to work closely with the New England Aquarium each year in their monitoring and conservation efforts of the severely endangered North Atlantic Right Whale.

Because of our work in local coastal environmental issues, we were nominated for the TAKE PRIDE IN AMERICA AWARD. We were recognized semi-finalists at an award ceremony in Washington D.C. in September of 1990.

Any funds received by our organization are used to maintain our supplies, pay for operational costs of surveys, provide educational information in the form of fact sheets, brochures, newsletters and slide presentations and will continue to be returned to the community through activities that support the integrity of our coastal environment.

Information on

Sea Turtles and lights

For more information please call us at (904) 261-2697

To report disoriented hatchlings, dead or injured sea turtles call the AISTW or the Florida Marive Patrol at 800-DIAL-FMP

Amelia Island Sea Turtle Watch, Inc.

P.O. Box 566

Amelia Island FL 32035
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