This was a successful sea turtle nesting season in
Florida, with a record number of Loggerhead and Green Sea Turtle nests found on
beaches around the state.
The 2023 nesting season officially came to a close
on October 31st, but some green turtles will continue to hatch and head to the
water throughout the month of November.
The final preliminary statewide totals as of October
31st include just over 134 thousand loggerhead nests statewide-beating
the previous annual record of nearly 123 thousand nests in2016.
There were also over 76,600
green turtle nests beating the previous annual record of just over 53 thousand
set in 2017.
Turtle patrols also found 1,711
leatherback nests and there were 10 confirmed Kemp’s Ridley nests.
It’s not surprising that there were so few Kemp’s
Ridley nests as almost the entire Kemp’s ridley sea
turtle population nests on the beaches of the western Gulf of Mexico, just
south of the United States-Mexico border.
The FWC said official nesting season numbers will be
available in February.
The 2024 nesting season will begin next March.
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