Projects: Alligator Egg Hunters

Every year in Florida, the Public Lands Alligator Egg Collection Program, a partnership between the state and the alligator farming industry, collects thousands of eggs from nests on Lake Okeechobee.

Because alligators and their eggs are a state owned resource that is regulated by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, it is up to those in the commission's alligator management program to permit and supervise the egg collection by the farmers each year. Since they have to supervise the collection, they also help with it and collect scientific data.

Eggs collected from the annual hunt make up a large percentage of the stock on the various alligator farm ranching operations where they raise the animals until they are about four or five feet long, and then slaughter them for their hide and meat.

The farming industry pays $10 per egg collected to cover state and private harvest costs. The eggs are then divided among 30 farms participating in the program.

Wildlife biologist Stephen Stiegler, with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's alligator management program, starts his day on Lake Okeechobee with other alligator egg hunters.
  
A female alligator rests on top of her nest on the northwest side of Lake Okeechobee. The lake has one of the largest alligator populations in the state, making it ideal for the alligator farmers who are permitted to collect eggs each year.
  
Stephen Stiegler and biological scientist Blair Hayman, with the F.F.W.C.C. alligator management program, slowly make their way through thick mud to an alligator nest spotted by helicopter on Lake Okeechobee. Alligator farmers hire the helicopter to locate the nests for $300 an hour. Once it is found, they radio to one of five airboats and guide them through the marsh vegetation to access the nest. The eyes in the sky also help determine if the female alligator is in the vicinity.
     
  
After an alligator nest is located, shallow layers of the dead and decaying vegetation that make up the nest and provide the necessary incubation temperature, is carefully removed, making sure not to disturb the eggs. A nest can be anywhere from three to five feet tall and three to eight feet in diameter, containing on average 30 to 40 eggs.
   
Blair Hayman and Stephen Stiegler make their way to an alligator nest. Deep, stickymud, water, thick vegetation and the unforgiving sun make it difficult to get access to certain nests throughout the day.
   
Blair Hayman, left, and Stephen Stiegler carefully collect eggs from an alligator nest in the marsh vegetation on Lake Okeechobee during the yearly public egg collection. The green marks put on the eggs signify that the eggs were found in a dry condition, and because the embryo attaches to the top of the egg, the mark is necessary to maintain that orientation so the embryo doesn't drown in its own fluid. A blue mark would indicate they were touching water and a red mark shows they were underwater. This was a record year for the alligator farmers with 16, 867 eggs collected on the lake alone.
     
  
A University of Florida flag flys on Lindsey Hord's airboat during the annual public alligator egg collection on Lake Okeechobee.
   
Because the pontoon boat normally used to collect the alligator eggs throughout the day is stuck closer to the boat launch with engine problems, eggs collected by the different teams are dropped off in a central location where they will be picked up and transported later in the day. This is done because the vibration from the airboats is not good for the eggs, and space on the boats is minimal.
  
While alligator farmers Tracy Howell, left, and Kenny Elkins, right, use flashlight type devices to inspect the day's collection of alligator eggs under cover of darkness, Blair Hayman, left, and Morgan Hord, collect data on the eggs for the F.F.W.C.
     
  
Alligator farmer Tracy Howell uses a flashlight to "candle" the eggs to determine if the embryo is still intact and the alligator is still alive. Every egg collected for the day is inspected, looking for the distinct band inside the egg to make this determination. The farmers pay $10 per egg in collection costs that cover the state's expenses.
   
Pedro Resendiz stacks boxes of alligator eggs collected on Lake Okeechobee after being inspected by alligator farmers. The eggs are taken to a central location for storage until they are distributed to those farmers participating in the public egg collection.
   
Lindsey Hord opens an alligator egg to see if it and the others from this particular nest are alive. The embryo in the egg was dead.
     
  
Lindsey Hord, left, watches as Brandi Cox transfers alligator eggs from the collection containers to cardboard boxes after a day of egg collecting on Lake Okeechobee.
   
After the alligator eggs are collected from the nests on Lake Okeechobee, they are transfered to cardboard boxes filled with the nest vegetation that is collected at the same time as the eggs, cataloged, and stacked on a pontoon boat before being taken to a storage facility.
   
Lindsey Hord and his daughter Morgan speed across the lake with other airboats nearbywhile collecting alligator eggs on Lake Okeechobee.