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Introdcution Letter

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The Problem

Threats to sea turtle nesting. Ways in which sea turtles nests are disturbed:

2) Beach furniture are hazardous to nests like lounge chairs and rental boats which create obstacles for nesting turtles and hatchlings. The turtles can get entangled in them.

3) Pollution on the frontal zones like trash and tar. This is where baby sea turtles spend their early years and collect nutrients to grow. Some turtles have even swallowed enough tar to glue their mouths shut.

4) Artificial lighting on newly developed beaches disrupts the hatchlings ability to find the sea from their nest. This effect is called “hatching disorientation” which leads them in the wrong direction. Sea turtle hatchlings have an inborn tendency to move in the brightest direction which on a natural beach is the moonlighted ocean.

5) Beach front developments which include seawalls, sandbags and other condominium structures  disrupt nesting.

6) People tourism is also an issue. If a mother is coming up onto the beach to rest and she sees and hears people she will become frightened and return to the water and her eggs will be deposited there where they cannot incubate and will become food for other marine life.