Reminder: It's Turtle Season

Turtle Season

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Last Saturday morning (June 24, 2017) in full daylight, a loggerhead marine turtle emerged from the surf to lay eggs, at Shoreline Island Resort, Madeira Beach.

This is a very rare sight: loggerhead turtles habitually lay their eggs under the cover of darkness. The turtle tracks evidenced that she was disturbed twice on her trek up the beach, probably by inquisitive vacationers, before settling on the spot to dig her nest.

Naturally, at this time of day, a large group of onlookers gathered around the turtle. The Sheriff's office was called and Deputy Snyder attended - he insured everyone moved back and watched at a respectful distance.

Above are some photos of the daytime event (we are not permitted to photograph sea turtles on the beach at night.) The pictures show her finishing up with the nest, orienting herself towards the sea, and hauling herself over the sand and back into the Gulf. You will note that the bystanders are staying well back.

Loggerhead sea turtles visit the West Coast of Florida and our Gulf Beaches each year between April and October to lay their nests. Only the mother turtle actually

crawls onto the beach, usually under the cover & protection of darkness, to lay 80-120 eggs in a nest. You will see these nests marked off to protect them from human activity.

50-60 days later, incubated by the sun and sand, the hatchlings emerge and make their way to the sea. There they swim into sea grasses as their nursery. 25 years later, when about 1 in 1000 have survived, they have matured and begin laying eggs, starting the cycle over again. A loggerhead turtle can live to approximately 80 years of age and adults weigh 200-350 pounds.

A mother turtle only successfully lays a nest about 50% of the time they come onto the beach, at other times she makes what is known as a ‘false crawl’ due to some type of disturbance. These disturbances, which are often caused by man’s activities, use up precious energy she needs to survive and reproduce.

Sea turtles have a long history, they pre-date dinosaurs, but more recently became endangered due to human interference. You can help protect our nesting sea turtles and other wildlife by leaving our beaches:

• CLEAN – leave no trash or beach furniture/toys on the beach overnight – this is required by the City’s ‘Leave No Trace’ ordnance

• FLAT – sea turtles are made to swim, hence crawling on the beach is an effort & they cannot walk backward; if they fall into a hole, they cannot escape and may well die. Fill in all holes & flatten your sand castles please!

• DARK – sea turtles & hatchlings navigate by stars & moon reflected off the water. Flashlights, camera flashes and building lights can disorient the turtles away from the sea. Please leave the turtles in the dark.

All sea turtles and marine life are protected by law. Do not interfere with or disturb nesting turtles or hatchlings.

For more information visit: www.seaturtletrackers.org/faqs.html