Sea turtle nesting season doesn’t officially begin in our area until May the 1st, but we are already getting some early nesters, including a rare nest from a Leatherback Sea turtle

            Sea turtle nesting season doesn’t officially begin in our area until May the 1^st, but we are already getting some early nesters, including a rare nest from a Leatherback Sea turtle.

 

On Wednesday morning the St. George Island turtle patrol was called out to a nest near 4^th street east – and discovered the first known Leatherback nest on the island in at least 7 years.

 

And there are eggs in the nest, so it wasn’t just a false crawl, which sometimes happens.

 

The tracks leading to the nest were about 6 feet wide which means it was a big sea turtle – some leatherbacks can weigh about 1000 pounds.

 

The nest has been caged off to protect it from people and predators.

 

A similar nest was found at Indian Pass last week, which could be the same turtle, or possibly a separate Leatherback.

 

The vast majority of the nests found in our area are from Loggerhead turtles, which are much smaller than the Leatherbacks.

 

Sea Turtle 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 FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 1-888-404-FWCC and they will make sure someone comes out to check and protect the nest.

 

You can also help by not using bright lights on the beaches at night – man made lights tend to disorient the turtles and keep them from nesting.

 

You can buy turtle safe flashlights for your nighttime walks – they are available at the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research reserve on Island Drive in Eastpoint and at the state park on St. George Island.

 

You can also purchase them at the lighthouse gift shop on St. George Island.

 

And don’t forget Franklin County is actively enforcing its “Leave No Trace” ordinance to protect nesting sea turtles.

 

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.

 

The rule also requires that all holes that you dig on the beach be filled in when you leave, to protect turtles and other beachgoers.

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/leatherback-turtle

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