Kemp's ridley Sea Turtles

A sea turtle hatchling made it into Gulf waters last year, which is the first hurdle to clear in a long journey filled with danger as the sand-dollar-sized hatchling grows to weigh 200 pounds or more over the next several decades; baby sea turtles often head to huge piles of sargassum seaweed in the southern Atlantic Ocean where there is plenty for them to eat and a lot of nooks and crannies to hide from predators

Sea turtles set to crawl onto Florida's shores to nest again this summer; conservationists hope hurricanes, predators stay away

Tom Bayles

It's sea turtle nesting season. Dont forget to turn out your lights at night on the beach and stay away from momma sea turtles when they are nesting

Environment

Sea turtle nest counts for 2024: lower numbers for some species, solid, record numbers for others

WGCU Staff

The Florida Fish and Wildlife's Research Bulletin for February reports that 2024 nesting numbers for sea turtles were no surprise, recording lower numbers for some species but also posting solid and record-breaking counts for other species.The counts are the result of the Florida Index Nesting Beach Survey which records sea turtle nest counts on a standardized set of index beaches. Researchers use the annual survey to determine nesting trends.

Thousands of sea turtle nests will hatch in Southwest Florida throughout this summer and fall, so if you see a local beach swarmed with hatchlings turtle scientists say to leave the baby turtles alone, move off the beach, and certainly do not help the animals

Environment

Sea turtles are packing Southwest Florida beaches with nests

Tom Bayles

This year's sea turtle nesting season is going great, with a leatherback on Sanibel and early nesting throughout the region. But few turtle lovers forget last season when early signs were record-breaking but the season's results were heart-breaking