A Kemp's ridley sea turtle like this one traveled 4,600 miles across the Atlantic ocean in 2008. After being rehabilitated in Portugal, it is being reintroduced into its native Gulf of Mexico waters on Tuesday.

On Florida’s Gulf coast Tuesday, there will be a celebrated homecoming. For a turtle. This is no ordinary turtle: Known as Johnny Vasco da Gama, after the 15th-century Portuguese explorer, it crossed the Atlantic twice — by sea and by air.

Johnny, as his human friends call him, is a critically endangered Kemp’s ridley turtle. Only a few thousand of these sea-turtles exist, mostly in the Gulf of Mexico. Normally, they do not migrate across the Atlantic.

But in 2008, a juvenile Kemp’s Ridley washed ashore in Europe — cold, exhausted and 4,600 miles from home. Turtle scientist Tony Tucker reckons the turtle hitched a ride.

“Most little turtles — they’re living in the sargassum rafts,” Tucker says. “The sargassum brown seaweed that floats at the surface provides them shelter from predators like seagulls and albatrosses, but it’s also a rich source of food.”

Tucker, who works with the sea turtle conservation program at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida, thinks Johnny and his seaweed raft got caught in a big circular current called the North Atlantic Gyre. The journey would have taken over a year.

Johnny’s rescuers nursed him to health in the Netherlands and then Portugal. But they knew he was a rare species and needed to get home. So they flew him to Florida on a Portuguese airliner.

“They bolted out one of the passenger rows of seats and made a place inside a special container for Johnny, and he got to ride all the way across the Atlantic,” Tucker says. “This jet-setting turtle has already crossed the Atlantic twice now, but once in style.”

Biologists at Mote were ready for him.

“We had prepared a warm tank for him, and he’s been swimming ever since. I think there was probably a bit of travel stress — we could call it jet lag if you will — but Johnny has come out of that very nicely,” Tucker says.

Museum records in Europe and the United Kingdom show that four Kemp’s ridley turtles have made this trip in the last century, but those were just one-way.

On Tuesday, scientists will set Johnny free in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. This time, he’ll be wearing a satellite tag on his back.

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A loggerhead sea turtle swims near fishing nets, one of the threats the ancient species faces.

Loggerhead sea turtles along the West Coast will be listed as “endangered” but those on the East Coast won’t, the Obama administration said Friday in a split decision that had environmentalists seeing a mixed message about the threats pushing this ancient species toward extinction.

Populations on both coasts have dropped significantly in recent decades, though Atlantic loggerheads rebounded a bit in recent years. The key threats are getting tangled in fishing nets, accidentally being hooked on fishing lines and loss of nesting habitat.

“While today’s designation gives new hope for North Pacific loggerheads, it leaves the fate of the species in the Atlantic at risk,” Whit Sheard, a lawyer with the conservation group Oceana, said in a statement.

The decision “ignores the massive impacts of the BP oil spill and increasing threats from shrimp-trawl fisheries,” added Chris Pincetich, a biologist with the Turtle Island Restoration Network.

The decision, which followed a four-year petition by Oceana, TIRN and the Center for Biological Diversity, moved North Pacific populations from “threatened” to “endangered” status, while leaving the Northwest Atlantic ones at “threatened” — a status held since 1978.

The groups were also upset that the administration did not propose ways to protect loggerhead habitat. “The government has delayed proposing any critical habitat for loggerhead sea turtles, which is an important step in achieving improved protections for key nesting beaches and migratory and feeding areas in the ocean,” Oceana stated.

Oceana suggested that the Obama administration had caved in to Republican opposition to environmental regulations.

“The government completely dismissed its own scientific conclusions,” said Oceana marine wildlife manager Elizabeth Griffin Wilson. “Listing decisions are legally required to be based entirely on science. This is yet another example of the U.S. government folding because of political pressure.”

South Florida has the largest nesting beaches for loggerheads in the Northwest Atlantic. In the Pacific, loggerheads nest in Japan but spend much of their time along the coasts of Mexico and Southern California.

The Center for Biological Diversity estimates loggerhead populations along the Pacific coast dropped 80 percent over the last decade.

Before a recent rebound, Atlantic populations had declined by almost 40 percent since 1998, the center estimates.

Loggerheads and other sea turtles have benefited from new fishing nets that allow them to escape entanglement, but the fact that those nets are not mandatory means thousands are still killed each year. In the U.S. shrimp trawling industry alone, a recent study found, some 4,600 sea turtles still die each year.

Those new nets were part of the rationale cited for not listing northwest Atlantic turtles as “endangered” — a status that the administration had earlier proposed.

“Some of the fisheries bycatch effects appear to have been resolved through requirement of turtle excluder devices in shrimp trawlers, and longline fishery effort has declined due to fish stock decreases and economic reasons,” the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service said in a statement.

“Substantial conservation efforts are underway to address” other threats, it added.

Loggerheads are one of six species of sea turtles found in the U.S. All are designated as threatened or endangered.

While residents and tourists on Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Beach suffered through some nasty weather during the last week of August, another Beach-going species was enjoying a solid week with its long-standing ritual.

A combined 17 sea turtle nests hatched between the mornings of Aug. 23 to Aug 30 on the two neighboring beaches. The Beach nest count jumped from 12 to 20, while Bonita Beach increased from 30 to 39 nests during that time. Since that time, a total of 21 nests have hatched on the Beach and 42 on Bonita Beach.

In the early morning, Turtle Time volunteers monitor these beaches along with Big Hickory Island and Bunche Beach. The recent increase in hatched nests has kept them busy with the excavation process. One part of that process is to record the amount of hatchlings that spring from the 100-plus eggs.

“It has kept us busy, but that’s the fun part,” said Turtle Time founder Eve Haverfield. “These nests have survived several storms. People have been very responsive to the lighting regulations.”

The so-called Turtle Lady applauds FMB Environmental Sciences Coordinator Keith Laakkonen and Turtle Time volunteers for educating people about the intricacies of the sea turtle season that runs from May 1 to October 31.

“We are happy to report that no nests have disorientations and all hatchlings have made it to straight to the water,” said Haverfield. “We hope that will continue for the remainder of the season.”

Between the two beaches, Bonita Beach recorded its first hatched nest on June 24. That nest had 103 hatchlings out of 116 eggs make it to the Gulf. Fort Myers Beach didn’t post its first hatched nest until July 27, nearly one month after Bonita Beach and nearly three months or halfway into the season. Only 94 hatchlings made it safely out of that nest due to an infestation of ghost crabs and fire ants.

“It all depends on where the first turtles decide to nest,” said Haverfield. “Fire ants we can manage, but ghost crabs have been a challenge for us.”

Sea turtle nesting usually reflects a cyclical pattern. In 2008, Turtle Time volunteers recorded 44 nests on Fort Myers Beach compared to 11 nests in 2009. Last year, 23 nests were found on the Beach during the season. But this year, the up-and-down pattern has been broken with 28 nests recorded.

“The upswing is statewide. That is really encouraging to conservationists,” said Haverfield.

Turtle Time would like to ensure sea turtles continue to flourish. As always, there are preventive measures to help these little creatures reach the Gulf and swim to safety. When a hatchling emerges, his first instinct is to go to the natural light of the night’s horizon. But, in some cases, artificial lighting fools these baby sea turtles.

To combat that, outdoor lights should be shielded by placing non-transparent canisters like wooden boxes or air-conditioning quilted foils or air-conditioning quilted foils around them.

“It is absolutely imperative that people either turn off or shield their lights, close their drapes or use five watt amber LEDS,” Haverfield said. “During sea turtle nesting season, no light may be visible from the beach.”

Also at night, furniture and any other object should be removed from the beach and stored behind dune vegetation or up close to beach homes. Sea turtles become entangled in beach furniture, trash or other beach items during disorientations.

Other cautions include avoiding the use of flashlights, lanterns or flash photography while on the beach at night. Remember, touching or disturbing nesting sea turtles, hatchlings or their nests is illegal. State and Federal Laws protect sea turtles.

For conservation materials, questions regarding sea turtles or to report a nest or crawl, contact Turtle Time at 481-5566. If anybody would like information in terms of lighting and/or code enforcement, contact Town Environmental Sciences Coordinator Keith Laakkonen at 765-0202.

© Copyright 2011 Fort Myers Beach Bulletin, Fort Myers Beach Observer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Click through to read the full story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/44008449#44008449

Turtle Time volunteer Patty Nicola took these images of Andre during her visit to the Loggerhead Marine Center.

The ten-year study shows that they go back to the same spots year after year.

Click through to read Tamara Jones’ entire article at “Planet Earth Online”. ARTICLE LINK

11:15 A.M. — Dozens of loggerhead turtle babies were rescued from a nest on Bonita Beach Wednesday, but hundreds of others weren’t so lucky.

Extreme high tides washed away six nests on the northern end of Bonita Beach. In a seventh nest the hatchlings had already made it out of their eggs and were scrambling to climb out when the water covered the nest.

Scores of nests and babies were also lost in Collier County and on Sanibel Island.

Fifty-nine baby turtles died on Bonita Beach, most likely from drowning, according to Turtle Time, a volunteer group that monitors sea turtles in south Lee County.

“That’s heartbreaking because we are trying to get as many in the water as we can,” said Eve Haverfield, president and founder of Turtle Time.

But as Angie Ralph, another Turtle Time volunteer, examined the nest, she saw tiny flippers and heads just below the sand’s surface.

Ralph rescued 37 hatchlings that had survived the water. She believes the survivors might have been at the bottom of the nest and didn’t come in contact with as much water. The hatchlings were placed in a bucket and released Wednesday night.

“I was just checking this nest when I saw them,” Ralph explained. “They couldn’t get out because the sand was so hard packed because it was washed over and was as hard as concrete.”

Eggs and hatchlings can survive when water washes over a nest. But they can’t survive when the water stays over the nest or when it continuously washes over. On Tuesday and Wednesday whipping winds and high tides sent the water over the nests numerous times. A new escarpment farther back on the beach shows the beach eroded once again.

Haverfield said Fort Myers Beach lost at least one nest and Big Hickory Island lost a nest. The four nests lost on Bonita Beach were so eroded by the storms that eggs were rolling around on the sand.

Collier County lost at least 40 nests in the storm. Turtle experts also had a big rescue, saving 65 hatchlings from a nest by Parkshore. Maura Kraus, turtle coordinator for Collier County, said while 40 are confirmed to be washed out, she expects the number to rise. Turtle experts can’t dig up a nest to confirm hatching or death until about 75 days after it was laid.

“It was a tough day,” Kraus said about the nest losses. “But we do have a lot of nests this year.”

Amanda Bryant, turtle coordinator for the Sanibel/Captiva Conservation Foundation” said 12 nests were confirmed lost.

“Those are just the ones we found the stakes for,” she said. “Over the next few days it will climb to about 20. I hold out a little bit of hope because sometimes they can be inundated and still hatch.”

These 37 loggerhead hatchlings were rescued from a nest on Bonita Beach by members of Turtle Time. The nest had been flooded during storms this week that brought it extreme high tides. The water in the nests made it impossible for the hatchlings to get out of the nest. (Andrea Stetson, special to news-press.com)

Bryant said Sanibel tourists and residents were collecting turtle eggs found on the beach and were trying to make new nests for them, but that doesn’t work.

“It’s really tough to explain that once they are out we can’t put them back in the ground,” Bryant said. It is all part of the season and we hadn’t lost any up until this point.”

Bryant said tourists also placed a makeshift cross by one of the washed out nests.

“It really hurts their hearts to see this happen,” she said.

“Obviously there are going to be some loses,” Haverfield concluded. “Some of the loses we can’t determine until the date we had to dig up. It could have been worse.”

But Haverfield said it hasn’t been this bad since Hurricane Charlie in 2004.

“I don’t remember quite this much damage since Hurricane Charlie and it wasn’t even a tropical storm.”