Survey: 8,000 turtle nests washed out by Dorian in Florida

Scientists say Hurricane Dorian washed out to sea more than 8,000 sea turtle nests from a Florida wildlife refuge.

The University of Central Florida said on Friday that a recent survey conducted at the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge in Melbourne Beach shows the storm that brushed Florida's east coast earlier this month washed away 45 per cent of green turtle nests.

Researchers say other turtle species dodged a bullet because the peak of their seasons passed before the storm, unlike green turtles.

Dorian washed away 20 per cent or 2,260 of the loggerhead nests from this season, and one leatherback nest. But the turtles aren't doomed. Scientists have already seen more than 400 new green turtle nests since Dorian.