Turtle Season
is Here!
Contributed by The FWC
B
iologists hope for another busy sea
turtle nesting season. More sea turtles nest
on Florida’s sandy beaches than on any other
U.S. coastline. Biologists at the Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) hope
the 2014 nesting season that started March 1 will
be as successful as others in recent years.
In March, leatherback sea turtles began to emerge
onto beaches to lay their eggs along Florida’s
Atlantic coast, from Broward to Brevard counties. A
few months later, people in other coastal counties
also may notice loggerhead and green sea turtle
“crawls”; the distinctive line of tracks they leave
behind in the sand.
19 | THE SAND DOLLAR
Three species of sea turtles nest in abundance
on Florida beaches: leatherbacks, loggerheads
and greens. Loggerheads are the most abundant,
and approximately 90 percent of all nests for this
species in the southeastern United States occur
in Florida. Sea turtle biologists were surprised and
pleased in 2013 when a record number of more
than 36,000 green sea turtle nests were counted
in Florida.
“The great news is that so many sea turtles nest
on Florida beaches – more than anywhere else in
the United States,” said Dr. Robbin Trindell, who
is responsible for sea turtle management at the
FWC. “Florida had a record number of loggerhead
nests in 2012, followed by a record number of