🥁🐢Drum roll please….Nest 1 was found by morning surveyors today and has been marked by volunteers for protection! In the last week, we found three false crawls, where the turtle came onto the beach but didn’t nest, now we have our first 2025 Nest!
A loggerhead chose our beach overnight to lay her nest and our surveyors and volunteers put their FWC and local training to work to identify the crawl and mark it for protection. Per our permit guidelines, we do not post the locations of our nests. If you happen to see a marked nest on the beach, please refrain from entering the area so the egg chamber can stay well protected for the next 60-70 days. That is the average incubation time here on our beach and it is all dependent on various environmental factors. We commonly find our first nest around this time in May so we are right on track and hope to be finding many more nests over the next few months.
If you encounter a sea turtle on the sandy beach at night, please refrain from using flash photography, use no lights at all (causes disorientation), avoid her track and any disturbed sandy areas, observe from the back side of the turtle from a distance and contact PCB Police non-emergency at 850-233-5000. They will contact our on call volunteers to respond and protect the turtle and the nest she lays.
Remember, everyone can do their part leaving our beaches clean, dark and flat!
