Beach chair traps turtle

+ Beach chair traps turtle
Longboat Key Turtle Watch and Mote Marine Laboratory often remind beachgoers to remove beach furniture at night, and here’s the reason why:

On June 12, Turtle Watch volunteers found a nesting loggerhead turtle with a beach chair stuck on its shell. Volunteers freed the turtle while communicating closely with Mote scientists, and the turtle returned to sea without leaving a nest.

According to Mote, beach furniture can be an obstacle to nesting turtles and can cause false crawls — when a turtle emerges on the beach and circles back to sea without nesting. Turtles can also become entangled and carry furniture back to the sea. Mote recommends removing furniture from the beach every night during nesting season, or at least pulling it back to the dune line where vegetation meets the beach. Furniture left at the dune line should be stacked.