Sea Turtles

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.

It's been a record-breaking year for sea turtles in Florida. Just as they have for millions of years, the turtles have crawled onto beaches, digging pits in the sand to lay their eggs.

More than 1,000 loggerhead nests were counted on Sanibel and Captiva islands. Research shows Sanibel is averaging about five times more loggerhead nests compared to the 1970s and ‘80s.

Should humans rescue animals from the perils of climate change?

A loggerhead sea turtle named Rocky was released into the Atlantic Ocean after spending six weeks rehabbing at Florida’s Loggerhead Marinelife Center.