Sea turtle nesting season starts this weekend, and wildlife officials are encouraging beachgoers to heed a few tips to keep the turtles safe.
- Sea turtle nesting season begins in May
- Wildlife officials want beachgoers to heed signs, tips
“In order to keep sea turtles and our beaches and oceans healthy, it’s important for all of us to be good neighbors and do our part,” said Dr. Robbin Trindell, who leads the sea turtle management program at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Here are some tips that FWC officials are encouraging beachgoers to follow:
- Do not disturb: Keep your distance from sea turtles, nests, eggs and hatchlings. In northwest Florida, nests are usually marked with yellow signs and tape, but not always. Do not shine lights on sea turtles or hatchlings or take photos of them, even cell phone photos.
- Use the right light to help them at night: Turn off or adjust lighting along the beach at night to prevent nesting females or hatchlings from getting confused and going the wrong way. Use turtle-friendly lighting on outside lights on homes and other buildings. Replace incandescent, fluorescent and high-intensity bulbs with FWC-certified low-wattage, long wavelength options in red or amber colors. With beach lighting:
- Keep it long: Long-wavelength lights are better for turtles. Look for the red and amber lights that are FWC-certified as turtle-friendly.
- Keep it low: Installing any needed lighting close to the ground.
- Keep it shielded: Focus lights down, not up or outward, to avoid confusing nesting turtles and hatchlings.
- Shut curtains and blinds: Close curtains and blinds at night on beachfront windows and doors.
- Clear the way at the end of the day: Nesting females and hatchlings can get trapped or confused by beach furniture left on the beach at night. Beach furniture also can cover nesting areas. Bring furniture, such as beach chairs, umbrellas, buckets and tents, back to your house, condo or hotel and fill in holes or level piles of sand before nightfall. Also avoid burying umbrella poles in the sand; use pole-holders or sleeves instead. Properly dispose of trash, food or litter in covered trash cans to avoid attracting predators to the nests.
Beachgoers can report sick, injured, entangled or dead sea turtles to the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline: 1-888-404-3922, #FWC or *FWC on a cell phone or text Tip@MyFWC.com.
The sea turtle nesting season begins in May on Florida's beaches and lasts through the end of October.
Many — but not all — sea turtle nests are marked with distinctive yellow tape. Florida wildlife officials want residents and visitors to keep their distance from sea turtles, nests and hatchlings on beaches. (File photos by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)