Sea turtles can be traced back to the time of thedinosaurs buttoday they are themselves an endangered species. In the United States they nest primarily on the beaches of the Southeast coast of Florida, which is the second largest sea turtle nesting site in the world. The success of nesting at three specific locations in Southeast Florida is examined with a focus on the human intervention used today as Management and Conservation techniques. This human intervention is discussed under the umbrella of the current legal statutes and policies aimed at helping sea turtles survive in the modem environment. Data is presented showing the relative success of the human intervention techniques utilized from 1999 to 2001 in these three specific locations, which are covered under the Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program. Emergence success showed downward sloping seasonal trends for all three locations for all three years. There were consistent trends across the three years in the In Situ nests with the dead pipped (DPIP) and the visible development (VD) categories showing upward slopingtrendsthroughout the season. There is a tendency in the data showing better hatching results when nests are not disturbed by human intervention.
| Date of Award | Dec 1 2002 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Curtis Burney (Supervisor) & Edward Keith (Advisor) |
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