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We are still in our prime nesting season and aren’t quite to hatching season yet (about 2 months after a nest is laid). But one of our most frequently asked questions is, “how can I watch a nest hatch?” Well, mother nature controls sea turtle hatching. We don’t announce nest locations nor predicted hatch dates. During hatching season, our trained volunteers check the nests (using red light if necessary) looking for hatch activity. In the event of finding disoriented hatchlings, they follow FWC protocols and ensure they make it safely to the Gulf that evening. We excavate the nest 3-4 days following and generally announce this on Facebook inviting the public to attend. This is your best chance to hear about our program, the specifics of that particular nest and see the process that documents the success of that nest.

If you encounter a nesting female, a nest hatching or hatchlings on the beach, PLEASE do not use any photography or light. Your eyes will adjust to the darkness and you will be able to observe that wonderful sight from a safe distance. Call PCB Police non-emergency at 850-233-5000 so they can contact our on-call volunteers to respond.

P.S. We are currently at 18 nests along our 18 miles of beach. Seventeen are Loggerhead nests and today surveyors found our first Green nest of the season!

Please remember to keep the beaches clean, dark and flat. Sea turtles are designed for the water so doing our part to reduce the obstacles on the beach is the least we can do.

Last week, our volunteers responded to a report of a female attempting to nest, she had encountered a beach chair and crawled over it. She was also disturbed by people taking flash photos and shining flashlights on her. This is all very disturbing, we can all do better!

If you encounter a nesting sea turtle, turn off all lights, do not take photos, give her space observing from behind her line of sight. Call the PCB non-emergency police at 850-233-5000 so they can contact our on call volunteers.

Panama City Beach Turtle Watch was thrilled to partner with PCB Parks and Recreation as they offered Sea Turtle Tracks camp this week.  This summer camp allowed the children to learn about sea turtles, perform mock stranding activities, become a turtle encountering obstacles left on the beach and witness the PCB Fire Rescue Safety Division rescue an accidentally hooked loggerhead sea turtle. The campers were very engaged and enthusiastic about learning what they can do to help provide the sea turtles a safe environment. They wrapped up camp with a visit to GWMI! 

To quote one of the campers at the end of our second day, “this was definitely a core memory day”!

Thank you to our education outreach coordinator and all of the volunteers who helped make this first of a kind camp such a success!

Our volunteers enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate World Ocean Day yesterday at Gulf World. We appreciate the opportunity to share information about sea turtles and what everyone can all do to help protect them.

It’s been 1 month since the start of our Sea Turtle season. We are happy to report that we have 4 loggerhead nests marked for protection at this time!

Our surveyors search each morning for mother turtle tracks (ranging from 2-3 foot in width) and when they find a nest they temporarily mark it. They call our volunteers to come protect it with 4 stakes, survey/caution tape and signs indicating the area is protected under our FWC permit.

Sea turtles often nest overnight, if you encounter a nesting turtle on Panama City Beach, please immediately call the non-emergency Beach Police at 850-233-5000. They will forward your report to Turtle Watch volunteers who will respond to mark the nest.

Don’t shine lights on or around the turtle or take flash photos, and stay at least 30 feet away and not in her line of sight.

Please also leave the beach clean, dark and flat. PCB has a Leave No Trace ordinance allowing us to each do our part to help visitors of our beaches (including people and wildlife).

Just in time for Mother’s Day our sea turtle mamas started arriving. We have now marked 2 nests on Panama City Beach for protection. Our surveyors and volunteers are looking forward to this season! Remember to keep our beaches clean, dark and flat.

Did you know that in Florida the only time a Sea Turtle will emerge from the water is if she is nesting, sick or injured?
If you encounter a sea turtle on our sandy beaches, call the Beach Police at 850-233-5000 and they will call us to respond.

Our 2022 Season (May – October) has come to a close. We’d like to take some time to reflect on our season and provide some figures and facts that may be of interest.

This year we had 44 nests and 28 false crawls (a non-nesting emergence).

Of the 44 nests, 42 were made by loggerheads and 2 by greens. Of the 28 false crawls, 27 were loggerheads and one was a green. Our 2022 nests spanned the entire 18 mile stretch of our beach from Moonspinner Condos on the east end to Pinnacle Port Condos on the west end.

PCB Turtle Watch has been monitoring since 1991 and while this was not the most nests in a season on our beach, it is in the top 7 years (the most nests in a season was 57 in 2017) and was significantly more than the 27 nests laid in 2021.

Stay tuned for more data points/facts about our 2022 season.

Pictured: Nest 44, a Green sea turtle nest; greens often nest near or in the dunes

Our volunteers stayed very busy the last few weeks.  We had many nests hatch and continued to experience severe hatchling disorientation. We have conducted many excavations and in most cases have found good hatch success rate.  Most recently we were impacted by storms and heavy rains that washed over (or washed out) a couple nests.  We also had 2 nests that suffered the effects of extreme and rapid rainfall resulting in some deceased hatchlings being found during excavation.  While that is difficult to witness, there is nothing we could have done differently and sea turtles have evolved to lay multiple nests in a season with the expectation that not all eggs will make it.

Over the next month our volunteers will continue to monitor a few viable nests that remain on the beach but the rapid hatching and excavations are behind us for our 2022 season.  Stay tuned to see how we finish out the season and if we’ll break the 3K hatchling mark!

Photos:
Excavation process with many hatched eggs, depression with tracks from 2 green hatchlings, a hatched and unhatched egg with a nest chamber in the background.