Florida beaches are about to get filled with sea turtle eggs as the nesting season starts in March.
This is the time female sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. Wildlife officials estimate the vast majority of sea turtle nesting takes place in Florida.
In Palm Beach County, the Loggerhead Marinelife Center monitors 9.5 miles of beach, one of the most densely nested beaches for loggerhead sea turtles in the Western Hemisphere, Andy Dehart, the CEO of the center, told WLRN.
Leatherback and green sea turtles also nest the county’s beaches. Dehart said sea turtles are essential to our marine ecosystem as they indicate the health of the ocean.
“Through plastic pollution, plastic ingestion, entanglement in fishing gear, interference with boat strikes and unfortunately water quality issues, turtles are telling us that oceans need help,” he said.
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With the start of the sea turtle nesting season, which runs through October, Dehart said beachgoers should exercise caution with the endangered species.
“If you are lucky enough to see a sea turtle nesting or a nest that hatches out and the babies are running to the ocean, the best thing is to keep your distance,” Dehart said. “Observe that amazing thing that's happening in the natural world, but keep your distance.”
Dehart also asks beach visitors to refrain from using flashlights at night, as they can scare away the female turtle as it’s trying to lay the eggs and disorient baby turtles as they make their way to the water.
Closer to the summer — when the nests are hatching — visitors should also make sure to knock down sandcastles and fill in holes on the sand before leaving the beach. This way, baby turtles can have a clear path to get to the water.
