Turtle Season Begins May 1
May 1 marks the beginning of sea turtle nesting season on St. George Island and other beaches throughout Franklin County and Florida. The turtles will lay their eggs from May – September, with 50-150 baby turtles hatching after 45-60 days, usually at night. One female may nest several times in a season.
Florida has the highest number of sea turtles of any state in the continental US. Three species are common here including loggerhead, green and leatherback turtles. The Federal Endangered Species Act lists all of sea turtles in Florida as either threatened or endangered. In 2016, Franklin County reported 1116 Loggerhead nests, according to the Florida Statewide Nesting Beach Survey.
May also heralds the season when local volunteer turtlers begin walking the beach in order to find, mark and protect turtle nests and when homeowners and visitors are educated about measures they can take to help nesting sea turtles such as turning off lights and clearing the beach of gear. Visitors interested in learning about sea turtle nesting can visit the St. George Island Visitor’s Center (at the St. George Island Lighthouse Park) to pick up turtle information.
If you happen to see a sea turtle nesting, or hatchlings emerging from the nest, stay very quiet, keep your distance, and turn any lights off (no flash photography). You should never try to touch a wild sea turtle. Also, do not touch or move any hatchlings. The small turtles need to crawl on the beach in order to imprint their birth beach on their memory.
During nesting season, it is important to keep the beaches Clean, Dark and Flat. Clean, by removing everything you brought to the beach including trash, food, chairs and toys; dark, by keeping lights off, using sea turtle friendly lighting and red LED flashlights if necessary; and flat, filling up all holes and knocking down sand castles before leaving the beach. If you see anyone harassing a sea turtle or a sea turtle in distress for any reason, do not hesitate to call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission hotline at 1-888-404-3922.
Please note that Franklin County has a Leave No Trace Ordinance that requires chairs, umbrellas and equipment to removed nightly from the public beaches in order to help mama turtles more easily navigate the beaches to nest and allow hatchlings a clear path back to the water from their nests in the dunes.
Want to learn more? The Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve will host weekly "turtle talks" beginning in June at the ANERR's Eastpoint Visitor Center each Wednesday from 2-3 pm to educate visitors about the nesting sea turtles.
