ANERR Turtles and Tropical Storm Bertha Update

Sea turtle nests on both Little St. George Island (LSGI) and Carrabelle Beach were affected by storm surge from Tropical Storm Bertha. On Little St. George Island, 149 nests were present when impacts from TS Bertha occurred. Of these, 88 were washed over, one was partially washed out, and 51 were completely washed out. Many of the nests that were washed over also had a large amount of sand deposited on top of them, measuring 20 cm at one of the only evaluations done so far. Since the storm, there has been new nesting activity on the island. In Carrabelle Beach, 3 nests were present at the time of Bertha’s impacts. Two of these nests were completely washed out. The third nest was washed over but did not have any accretion like those on LSGI. Volunteers reported that storm surge was likely over the first dune and a lot of debris had washed in. One additional nest was documented on Carrabelle Beach since the storm. Staff continue to document nest impacts and to clean up from the storm surge.