Another Daytime Turtle

On Monday, June 30th, we had another turtle nest during the day. Normally sea turtles emerge from the water during the darkness of night to lay their nests. This, however, is our second daytime turtle that we know of this season in Boca Raton. Around 10 o’clock in the morning we received a call about a turtle on the beach in Spanish River Park. We grabbed our stranding gear assuming it was a dead, sick, or injured turtle, but we also gathered our nest supplies just in case it was a nesting female. Sure enough, we arrived in time to see a loggerhead depositing the last few eggs of her nest before covering and camouflaging it. When she was finished we checked for tags and found one on her right front flipper. After contacting the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the University of Florida, we discovered that this turtle was originally tagged on August 14, 2005, after being caught in a trawl net ahead of a dredge in the Mississippi River – Gulf Outlet Canal opening. She was moved away from the dredging area and released. The Mississippi River – Gulf Outlet Canal (also known as MRGO) is a 76 mile channel that provides a shorter route for deep-draft vessels between the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans’ inner harbor. Construction of the canal was completed in 1965 and occasional dredging activities are necessary to keep it navigable, thus the encounter with this adult female loggerhead.