South Walton Turtle Watch: Registration and Training for 2018 Season

[Teresa]

If you would like to be part of the South Walton Turtle Watch for the season of 2018 please fill in an application found on the website southwaltonturtlewatch.org and mail it in and then plan to attend this mandatory training.

Northwest Florida
Tuesday, 27 March 2018, 10:00am – 2:00pm Central Standard Time
Gulf Coast State College – Student Union East/Conference Center, 2nd Floor, 5230 West Hwy 98, Panama City, (850) 769-1551.
The registration site is now open for the 2018 FWC sea turtle nesting survey workshops. The link is: Sea Turtle Nest Survey Training Workshop Registration

Please note that registration is required if you plan to attend. You will need to provide the name of the permit holder with whom you will be working. Also, registration is the responsibility of individual participants and should not be done by the permit holder. Participants must individually acknowledge that they agree to review the training materials http://myfwc.com/…/…/sea-turtles/nesting/training-materials/ and the new FWC Marine Turtle Conservation Handbookhttp://myfwc.com/media/4112794/fwc-mtconservationhandbook.pdf .

The name of the Permit Holder is Sharon Maxwell

South Walton Turtle Watch
The South Walton Turtle Watch is a group of volunteers whose purpose is to locate endangered and threatened sea turtle nests and to protect them along the beaches of NW Florida during the crucial nesting and hatching season. By law, Only certified members are allowed to interact with endangered sea turtles.

“We, as sea turtle volunteers, go through many hours of training so that we may help these wonderful sea turtles. We are learning more each year. That is why we can get a sea turtle permit which allows us to help endangered and threatened animals.” -Sharon Maxwell

Sea turtles are protected by the Endangered Species Act and only those with special permits are allowed to touch the nests, turtles, or hatchlings. There is a $2,500.00 reward for information leading to the conviction of violators. To report a violation, contact a State, Federal, or local law enforcement officer.

Website: http://www.southwaltonturtlewatch.org/

Facebook: South Walton Turtle Watch

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[Teresa]

Clarification: South Walton Turtle Watch and Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles are local groups with different responsibilities and activities.

South Walton Turtle Watch (SWTW)
SWTW volunteers walk their assigned beach area daily to survey signs of crawls and nests, monitor nests and report to SWTW nesting activities and locations. SWTW volunteers are trained and certified through the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. Sharon Maxwell has directed SWTW and held the state marine turtle permit for our area since 1995.

Nesting season is May 1 through Oct 31. SWTW volunteers focus on locating and monitoring sea turtle nests and overseeing volunteers for the protection of the turtles and their hatchlings. Website: southwaltonturtlewatch.org

Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles
Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles was formed recently with the primary goal of educating the public and increasing awareness to protect and support sea turtles and sea life on the Walton County, Florida beaches. Follow Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles on social media for events such as beach clean up dates and places throughout the year.

The Friends group has a fairly new Beach Ambassador program where volunteers are trained to go out onto beaches and around town to distribute information and answer questions about protecting sea turtles and their environment. Topics of discussion would be: #cleandarkflat, filling in holes on the beach, picking up trash and leaving the beach pristine at the end of the day. We Share the Beach education series takes place each month at the Coastal Branch Library and is open to the public. The educational series is about beach safety and rules, as well as wildlife topics such as sea turtles, bears and other creatures.
Website: friendsofswturtles.org

Become a member of Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles and become a Beach Ambassador. Read more at SoWal.com Forums.

 

[Teresa]

A Note from Sharon Maxwell on the 2017 Nesting Season
(sent in an email today Feb 6)

It was sure a busy one. Our average nests are anywhere from 40-50 each year. And then 2017 with 127 nest. With these came lots of joy, lots of hard work, and also the knowledge of just how many people interact with sea turtles at night. This has spurred us onto getting more information on lights and sea turtles and staying away from sea turtles to everyone. We hope to have enough red stickers for everyone to use on their flashlights and cellphone and to educate folks on just how information it is to never shine a light on any king on a sea turtle. Here is the information from our 2017 season...

Sea Turtle figures from 2017 season

Loggerhead Nests: 111
False crawls: 75
Nests washed out: 11
Nests with no development due to water: 2
Hatchlings drowned in high water: 2 nests

Green Nests: 4
False crawls: 1
Nests with no development due to water: 1

Leatherback Nests: 1
This nest had no development

Strandings
Alive: 3
Dead: 14

Our Group has 96 volunteers, 25 of whom are on permit #120 and the rest on our walking permit.