The first sea turtle nests are beginning to appear on local beaches

The first sea turtle nests are beginning to appear on local beaches.

 

The first nest of the year was found on little St. George Island on May the 7^th – it is a loggerhead sea turtle nest.

 

There have also been four nests found since then on St. George Island.

 

Sea Turtle nesting season is in full swing now, which means sea turtles will be crawling onto local beaches at night to lay their nests in the dune line.

 

The vast majority of the nests are laid by loggerhead sea turtles, but very rarely we get a nest by the much larger 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.

 

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