EFFECTS OF ORGANIZED TURTLE WATCHES ON LOGGERHEAD (CARETTA-CARETTA) NESTING-BEHAVIOR AND HATCHLING PRODUCTION IN FLORIDA

To evaluate the effects of organized turtle watches on female sea turt les and their eggs, we quantified nesting behavior and hatchling produ ction of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) in south brevard Country , Florida, U.S.A. We compared the duration of five phases of nesting b ehavior, the directness of the turtle's return path, rate of travel du ring return crawl, hatching success, and hatchling emergence success b etween experimental and control turtles. Experimental turtles nested w hile observed by an organized turtle watch group consisting of aat lea st 15 people; control turtles were not observed by a turtle watch grou p. Experimental turtles spent significantly less time camouflaging nes t sites than did control turtles. The duration of the other four phase s of nesting behavior were not significantly different between the two groups. Experimental turtles also traveled less-direct paths during r eturn crawls, although their rates of travel were not significantly di fferent from those of control turtles. Hatching success and hatchling emergence success were not significantly different between experimenta l and control turtle nests in either year. Although turtle watch group s influenced nesting behavior, they were not found to be detrimental t o hatchling production. Florida's turtle watch program is a means for garnering public support for sea turtle conservation through education , and it should continue.