Sea turtle nests are beginning to show up on beaches across the county.
The nesting
season officially began on May the 1st, and turtle patrol volunteers
say they have already found plenty of nests on local beaches.
Sea turtles
nest on beaches across the county including St. George Island, St. Vincent
Island and Alligator Point.
25 loggerhead
nests have already been found and marked on St. George Island.
The vast
majority of the nests found in Franklin County are from Loggerhead turtles,
though very rarely there are also nests from the more endangered leatherback
turtles.
Turtle patrols
are asking for your help in protecting sea turtle nests this summer.
The nests look
like piles of sand, and they are most easily recognized by the turtle crawl
marks that are left when the female turtle pulls herself from the Gulf of
Mexico to the dune line where most turtle nests are found.
If you should
find an unmarked turtle nest this Summer, call the St. George Island Volunteer
turtlers at 927 2103.
And
don’t forget Franklin County has begun enforcing its new “Leave No Trace”
ordinance to protect nesting sea turtles and to keep local beaches looking
cleaner.
The
ordinance bans people from leaving items like tents and beach chairs on public
beaches on St. George Island overnight; items that are left out can be
confiscated by the county and destroyed at the landfill.
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