What it's like to count alligators at night in Florida with FWC

A recent survey of the alligator population on the St. Johns River aims to produce population estimates for setting hunting quotas. WESH 2 participated in the alligator population survey with Florida Fish and Wildlife, surveying the St. Johns River. “Everyone thinks of alligators as really interesting animals and they are one of Florida's great attractions,” said Andrew Letter, a researcher with the FWC. The FWC light, which uses a bright light to detect alligators and estimate their size, had to be the “only” light to keep the count accurate compared to other surveys. “We can determine the population in a particular body of water. Based on that, we use the population estimate combined with the previous year's harvest in that area to set the quota to manage for the next hunting season,” Letter said. The area surveyed, a winding stretch of about 30 miles between State Road 50 and 528, is a protected area and is never hunted. But it is valuable to researchers as they study the natural impacts on populations and consider those when making hunting decisions. “Alligators are a hunted species in Florida. To best maintain an alligator population and allow recreational hunting, we need to be able to hunt alligators sustainably,” Letter said. Conducting surveys at night brings some challenges, including insects and the difficulty of estimating size based on the glowing red eyes in the water. The red eyes often seen when light shines on alligators' eyes at night are not a myth.Some alligators scurried away and others appeared to raise the alarm, but no roars were heard over the hovercraft.I'm not sure if this fish was brave or trying to get enough distance to survive, but a total of 396 alligators were counted for this survey, 237 of them were 6 feet or longer.Each area surveyed will be compared to previous years to ensure one of the Sunshine State's most interesting creatures continues to thrive.

Florida —

The purpose of a recent survey of the alligator population on the St. Johns River was to determine population estimates based on setting hunting quotas.

WESH 2 joined Florida Fish and Wildlife in surveying the alligator population and examining the St. Johns River.

“When everyone thinks of alligators, they think they are really interesting animals and one of Florida's great attractions,” says Andrew Letter, an FWC researcher.

In order to detect alligators with a bright light and estimate their size, the FWC light had to be the “only” light to keep the count accurate compared to other surveys.

“We can determine the population in a particular water body. We use that population estimate in combination with the previous year's harvest in that water body to set the quota for the next hunting season,” Letter said.

The area studied, a winding stretch of about 30 miles between State Roads 50 and 528, is a protected area and is not hunted, but it is of value to researchers as they study natural effects on populations and consider them in hunting decisions.

“Alligators are a hunted species in Florida. In order to best maintain the alligator population and enable recreational hunting, we must be able to hunt alligators sustainably,” Letter said.

Conducting surveys at night presents some challenges, such as insects and the difficulty of estimating the size of the animals based on their glowing red eyes in the water.

The red eyes that are often seen when light shines on alligators' eyes at night are not a myth.

Some alligators scurried away and others seemed to raise the alarm, but no roar could be heard above the hovercraft.

I'm not sure if this fish was brave or trying to get enough distance to survive, but a total of 396 alligators were counted during this survey, 237 of which were 6 feet or longer.

Each area studied is compared to previous years to ensure that one of the Sunshine State's most interesting creatures continues to thrive.