Loggerhead Sea Turtles

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

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

The first sea turtle nest of 2024 Season has been identified on Venice Beach.

Environment

Mote's Sea Turtle Patrol finds first nest of 2024 season -- in Venice

Mote Marine Laboratory

Mote Marine Laboratory’s Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program (STCRP) documented the first local sea turtle nest of the 2024 season on Sunday, April 28, on Venice Beach. This marks the beginning of a crucial period for sea turtle conservation.

Jim Anholt and Charles LeBuff weighing a post-nesting on Sanibel.

Environment

Hurricane? What Hurricane? Record year for Loggerheads may link to past conservation efforts

Janine Zeitlin

Sea turtle nesting season ended in October and it was a record season for loggerhead sea turtles on Sanibel and Captiva Islands. Going back in history, early conservation efforts seemingly have paid off.

Members of the sea turtle team at the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation analyze the remains in the final hatched nests of the season to assess the health of the sea turtle population on the islands after a record loggerhead nesting season

Environment

Loggerhead sea turtles nested in record numbers the summer after Hurricane Ian

Tom Bayles

The sea turtle nesting season that started just months after Ian hit ended up setting records for loggerhead turtles on Sanibel and Captiva island.

LCSO Deputy Nicholas Velotta worked with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission and the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation Saturday afternoon to rescue this injured sea turtle off Fort Myers Beach. The turtle was eventually turned over to Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium for treatment.

Environment

Combined effort helps injured sea turtle on Fort Myers Beach

WGCU Staff

A 300-pound male loggerhead sea turtle discovered in distress on Fort Myers Beach is undergoing treatment after it was rescued Saturday afternoon.

Mahomes, a loggerhead rehabilitated and released by Mote Marine Lab and The Florida Aquarium on Anna Maria Island May 30 2023

Environment

Two sea turtles made ill by red tide toxins, recover and are released into the Gulf of Mexico

Tom Bayles

A pair of sea turtles found dazed and confused by red tide toxins in Sarasota County in February were returned to the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday after being nursed back to health

“Lilly” was found floating on the south end of Naples Bay and transported to Mote’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital on March 30. She and and another loggerhead turtle, “Farmer” were released from Lido Beach in Sarasota on Tuesday after recovering from red tide toxins at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital.

Environment

Loggerheads rescued from Naples, Manatee County returned to Gulf

WGCU Staff

Two loggerhead sea turtles, nicknamed “Lilly” and “Farmer,” were released from Lido Beach on Tuesday after recovering from red tide toxins at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital.

The first reported sea turtle nest in Southwest Florida was found on Casey Key and marked off by permitted sea turtle volunteers from Sarasota's Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium early on April 18, 2023

Environment

Loggerhead begins sea turtle nesting season on Casey Key

Tom Bayles

Volunteers from Sarasota’s Mote Marine Laboratory found first sea turtle nest reported this year Tuesday on Casey Key,

University helps keep sea turtles research safe from Hurricane Ian

Tom Bayles

Sea turtle nests in the sand on Sanibel Island hatch at nearly twice the rate as clutches on Captiva Island, and a long-term study to find out why was kept from a setback when Florida Gulf Coast University stepped in when Hurricane Ian crossed Cuba and moved toward the sister barrier islands in late September.Scientists from the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation have been monitoring myriad environmental conditions in dozens of nests on both islands trying to figure out what’s going on.

Mote's sea turtle activities are conducted under Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Marine Turtle Permits 155, 216, 027, 054, 070, 048, 126, and 028, and all turtle images were acquired under conditions not harmful to this or other turtles while conducting authorized research.

As the Earth heats up, male sea turtle hatchlings could become more rare

Cathy Carter

As intense heat becomes more common around the world, the potential threat to biodiversity increases. One species at particular risk to a warming climate is found on the beaches of Florida.