While scientists remain concerned about the species' future, they say the increase may show that years of work to protect the turtles are finally bearing fruit. I'm sure it's the protection measures. In Broward County, researchers counted 255 green turtle nests, breaking the previous record of 200 nests in 1998, according to a draft report by Nova Southeastern University's Oceanographic Center, which monitors the nests for the county. In Palm Beach County, the number of nests hit 1,960, way up from the previous record of 1,278, according to the county's Department of Environmental Resources Management. Farther north, biologists report similar increases along the dark, undeveloped beaches that tend to attract the huge reptiles.
Biologists are cautious about drawing firm conclusions from the numbers.
They say the increase could reflect weather changes, a temporary spike in the food supply or other factors that would offer no encouragement about the species' future. They note that the greens remain endangered, vulnerable to a host of natural and artificial threats. We could get hit by a hurricane in the middle of nesting season and take out all their nests. That's one of the reasons we can't let our guard down. They're a long way from being to full recovery.