Sea Turtles

A thirty-five-pound green sea turtle named Haven that spent the last six months in rehab at The Turtle Hospital in Marathon, Florida, finally got her chance to go home Friday. The 8-year-old endangered green sea turtle spent the last six months rehabilitating at The Turtle Hospital after being rescued, wrapped in fishing line and covered in fibropapilloma tumors.

Hampered by climate change, rising temperatures, and beach erosion, endangered sea turtle populations already face an uphill battle. But in the past three years, South Florida environmental non-profit MORAES discovered another blight on sea turtle conservation –an overpopulation of raccoons.

It's sea turtle nesting season, and everyone knows what that means — turn off your lights at night. Flipping your light switch is an easy way to feel like an environmental superstar, but what else can you do to support these little turtles?

The turtle was brought to Loggerhead Marinelife Center in January suffering from predator wounds to the front flipper. The veterinary crew at the Juno Beach facility assisted in Dilly Dally's rehabilitation and care.

Florida beaches are about to get filled with sea turtle eggs as the nesting season of the reptiles starts in March. Beachgoers should exercise caution with the endangered species.

As Conservancy of Southwest Florida wrapped the sea turtle nesting season, the group found storms had big effect on outcome. Turtle nest numbers were steady on Collier County's Keewaydin Island, but several storms disrupted hatchling success by almost half.

Florida’s sea turtle nests survived an intense hurricane season. But climate change poses an uncertain future for the beloved beach icons.

Last year, sea turtle nests were lost when Hurricane Idalia whipped up Florida's Gest Coast before making landfall in the Big Bend during the last week of August as a Category 4 storm. This year, Hurricane Debby disturbed sea turtle nests again along that coast before making landfall in the Big Bend during the first week of August as a Category 1.

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.

One of the turtles, Cayman, arrived at the center on Feb. 6, in need of surgery to repair a front left flipper that had become entangled in fishing line. The other, named Finley, had a fishing hook embedded in his shoulder when he arrived on April 27 and went through a round of antibiotics.

Imagine the surprise felt by sea turtle lovers when the number of egg-filled clutches laid on Southwest Florida beaches during last summer’s nesting season totaled a normal year despite shorelines transformed by Hurricane Ian. Even better: The mommas kept coming.

Each year, between May and October, threatened and endangered sea turtles create their nests along Pinellas County's beaches.