The
Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve says they are seeing
a busy sea turtle nesting season on Little St. George Island this
summer.
They
have found 268 sea turtle nests on the island this summer, of those,
262 are loggerhead sea turtles and 6 are green sea turtle nests.
Turtles
nest locally on beaches along St. George Island, Alligator Point,
Little St. George Island and St. Vincent Island.
This
is the time of year that sea turtle nests begin to hatch and baby sea
turtles dig themselves out of the sand to brave the dangers of the
nighttime beach as they dash for the waves.
The
biggest dangers include predators like household pets, obstacles like
beach furniture, and exterior lights that confuse the baby turtles in
their search for the ocean.
People
can help hatchlings make it safely to the water by removing obstacles
from the beach each night and by ensuring that exterior lights are
not visible from the nesting beach.
It’s
also helpful to keep your dogs and cats indoors at night.
If
you are lucky enough to see sea turtle hatchlings on the beach at
night, remember to turn off all lights and do not try to help the
turtles to the water.
If
you find turtles on the beach in the daytime, however, or under a
house or in a swimming pool then they likely do need your help.
The
best thing to do is to put the baby turtles in a bucket partially
filled with sand.
Make
sure the bucket is covered with a towel to keep the turtles cool.
Then
you can call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
wildlife alert hotline at 888-404-FWCC and they will send someone to
safely release the hatchlings.
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