NSU Currents Fall 2014 Newsletter - Volume XXV, Issue 2

4 Broward County Sea Turtle Nests Reach Record Level in 25 Years Since the middle of July, Broward County has had almost 2,300 sea turtles nest on its beaches. This is the second highest count in the last 25 years. The Oceanographic Center administers the Broward County Sea Turtle Conservation Program, which monitors 26 miles of beaches in Broward County for nesting activity daily from March 1 to October 30 of each year. Its mission is to document and mark every sea turtle nest laid throughout the season and document all false crawls, which is when the mother turtle has crawled up on the beach, but for some reason not made a nest. All nests laid Coral Nursery Students, Faculty and Staff Members Start Fund-Raising Initiative This year, OC students and faculty and staff members started the NSU Coral Nursery Initiative. The goal is to raise money and educate the public about the OC’s two coral nursery projects—land based and offshore—and current efforts to restore local reefs. In June, initiative participants attended the Florida Frag Swap, an event put on by local reef aquarium hobbyists so they can trade or sell aquacultured corals and fish. Loggerhead sea turtles hatching Jessica Novy, M.S. student, helps relocate a sea turtle nest from a Fort Lauderdale beach opposite the OC Campus. below the high tide line are relocated to protect them from being washed away on the next tide. The sea turtle program conducts public hatchling releases in conjunction with the Anne Kolb Nature Center every Wednesday and Friday in July and August. For more information about these events, contact the Anne Kolb Nature Center at (954) 357-5161 or email them at WestLakePark@Broward. org . The sea turtle program is now under the leadership of Derek Burkholder, Ph.D., principal investigator; Curtis Slagle, project manager; and Jessica Novy, assistant project manager. Transplanted staghorn corals in Broward County (photo credit: Kirk Kilfoyle) OC M.S. students Ian Rodericks and Ari Halperin at the Florida Frag Swap The project is also using a fund-raising Web site to raise funds to support saving staghorn corals. Staghorn coral, a keystone reef species, is a threatened species at risk of becoming extinct. Information about the fund-raiser, including ways to support this worthwhile project, can be found by visiting www.indiegogo.com .