Sharing the Shore

Sea Turtle Nesting Season Along the Gulf Coast

by Jenny Diamond

Conservation Center, is hopeful for another leatherback nest this year, noting that a leatherback has been seen swimming around the Navarre Beach pier nearly every day for the past few weeks. So far in 2023, there have been two loggerhead nests laid on Escambia County land.

Beachgoers can do their part to make sure that the beach is a safe environment for nesting turtles and hatchlings by following the ‘Leave No Trace’ and ‘Clean, Dark, Flat’ initiatives. While graceful in the water, adult turtles are cumbersome on land and can easily become stuck if they fall into a hole or encounter beach debris, so it is important that visitors knock down any sand structures, fill in any holes, and remove chairs, canopies, umbrellas, toys, and trash at the end of each day. Additionally, turtles can be disoriented by artificial lighting, which can range from lights from homes, businesses, and passing cars all the way to flashlights or phone lights on the beach at night; when disoriented, a nesting mother may crawl away from the ocean after laying her eggs and suffer from exposure. As of 2018, a Barrier Island Lighting Ordinance requires all water-facing residential and business structures to use turtle-friendly lighting practices: closing blinds and keeping outdoor lights shielded at night and using low-wavelength amber or ‘Wildlife Friendly’ bulbs available from local retailers for outside lighting. However, Jennifer

For many loCals alonG the GulF Coast, may means the start oF summer – school is ending, the days are getting warmer and the tourists are flocking to the beaches. However, May also marks the official start of sea turtle nesting season along the Gulf Coast. Female sea turtles drag themselves from the Gulf and use their strong flippers to dig a deep chamber and lay roughly 100 eggs per nest; the turtles will then cover the chamber with sand and return to the water. Nesting almost always happens at night, though some species like the Kemp’s ridley nest during the day. From May 1 through the end of October, dedicated staff and volunteers from the Escambia County Natural Resources Management division, Perdido Key State Park and Gulf Islands National Seashore patrol the beaches each morning to mark new nests, identifiable by the distinct tracks or “crawl” left by the large turtles and work with the public to ensure the safest conditions for turtles along the beaches. After busy hurricane seasons in 2020 and 2021, where continuous rain and high tides inundated many of the nests before the turtles could hatch, the summer of 2022 proved to be a wonderful year for nest numbers in our area. Of the 41 total nests laid on county lands, 32 hatched successfully and a total of 1,549 hatchlings entered the Gulf of Mexico. Though four sea turtle species have been known to nest in the Gulf Coast, the vast majority of nests in our area are laid by loggerheads, with occasional green and Kemp’s ridley nests. However, 2022 saw the first successfully hatched leatherback nest in our area in over two decades. Leatherbacks are the largest sea turtle species in the world, potentially reaching more than 1,000 pounds. The 2022 leatherback, nicknamed “Mabel” by the lucky beachgoer who saw her come ashore and alerted county officials, nested toward the eastern end of county property on Pensacola Beach on May 24. After a 75-day incubation period, one lone hatchling emerged from the nest, and three days later on August 10, the nest had a ‘boil,’ or mass hatch, “and 60 little leatherbacks swarmed up under a full moon and raced to the waves,” notes Melanie Waite, who has been volunteering with the county for more than 30 years. “That hatch made the season for me,” Waite said. Eleven additional live hatchlings were found during the nest evaluation and released into the Gulf according to FWC protocol, making a total of 72 hatchlings. Cathy Holmes, founder of the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle

Manis, biologist at Gulf Islands National Seashore, notes that turtles can be disoriented by “sky glow,” or light effects from buildings far away from the beaches, even as far as the bright lights of the ‘car city’ stretch in Pensacola. According to a 2022 Escambia County Marine Turtle Nest Monitoring Report conducted by Marine Environmental Program Manager Mark Nicholas, 65 percent of nests on Pensacola Beach and 100 percent of nests on Perdido Key were subject to disorientation that drew hatchlings away from the Gulf. In order to support the ‘dark’ element in the ‘Clean, Dark, Flat’ initiative, nighttime beach goers should avoid using bright lights on the beaches; many local businesses sell turtlesafe red-light flashlights or red film covers for cell phone lights. If you do see a turtle on the beach at night, turn off lights, avoid making noise and keep a safe distance to avoid disturbing the nesting process.

In addition to following the ‘Leave No Trace’ and ‘Clean, Dark, Flat’ initiatives, anyone interested in learning more about sea turtles can visit the Navarre Beach Sea Turtle Conservation Center to see Sweet Pea, the resident ‘sea turtle ambassador.’ Sweet Pea is a non-releasable green sea turtle who makes her permanent home in the Center’s 15,000-gallon saltwater pool. The Center is currently undergoing an expansion that will allow for more visitors and more opportunities for education and interaction. The 1,152-square-foot Conservation Education Area expansion will feature a sea turtle stranding assessment room with viewing windows, secure night housing for resident tortoises, Safari and Flip Flop, a ray and horseshoe crab viewing tank, hydroponic growing station and virtual ‘submarine dives’ to the artificial reef system just off Navarre Beach.

There are several other ways for the public to learn more about sea turtles and their nesting habits. The annual Sea Turtle Baby Shower will take place on June 3 at the Casino Beach Gulfside Pavilion from 9 am to 12 pm. This free, family-friendly event will feature live music, hands-on exhibits and fun for all ages. The Escambia County Natural Resources Management team will also host an interactive summer activity series called “Let’s Go to the Beach!” for kids and families at each branch of the West Florida Public Library system. For more information about these events, visit the Escambia County Natural Resources Facebook page. To report someone disturbing a sea turtle nest or an injured, dead or harassed sea turtle, call Escambia County Marine Resources: (850) 4261257 or Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission: (888) 404-FWCC (3922).