Sea Turtles

Sea turtles are some of the most mysterious and loved creatures that visit our Florida beaches. They evolved over 110 million years ago and are found in all the earth’s oceans except for the north and south poles. In Franklin County, as in many coastal areas throughout the southeastern United States and world-wide, there are active efforts to protect these animals on their nesting beaches and the waters they swim in the bay and Gulf.

Five of the world’s seven sea turtle species swim in Florida waters, and three of these species nest on our local beaches. Loggerhead sea turtles are the most common nesting turtle in Franklin County and in all of Florida. Green sea turtle nests are less common, and leatherback turtles are the rarest nesters, returning to the panhandle every few years to lay only a handful of nests. Sea turtles typically nest on the barrier island Gulf beaches, but they do occasionally nest on mainland areas such as Carrabelle Beach.

Nesting season is from May to October each year, with females laying nests from May to August and hatchlings incubating and emerging from these nests into October. A female will lay several nests within one season, but only nest every couple of seasons. Each nest may contain between 80-120 ping-pong-ball sized eggs. By laying multiple nests, females are spreading out the chances that some of these nests will be successful. Nests face many threats from predators such as ghost crabs, raccoons, and coyotes, and weather disturbances such as storm surge wash over or incubation temperatures become too cold or too hot. It is estimated that 1 in 1,000 eggs will make a turtle that survives to adulthood.

After hatchlings emerge, only the females will return to land to lay their own nests. Males never return to land after they hatch. Between nesting seasons, they may travel hundreds of miles to their foraging grounds, where they spend several years eating and replenishing their body stores to get ready for their next nesting period. Turtles nesting on Franklin county beaches may forage throughout the Gulf of Mexico or in the Atlantic Ocean. Different species prefer different food items with loggerheads preferring crab and other crustaceans, green turtles specializing in seagrass, and leatherbacks eating jellyfish.

Many trained volunteers, interns, and staff of managed areas patrol the beaches daily to look for sea turtle activity. These individuals are trained to identify turtle crawl species, if crawls are a nest or a “false crawl”, where a sea turtle came onto the beach but did not nest and take other data that is entered into an app and sent to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Nests are marked for protection and monitored throughout their incubation.

Sea turtles can be threatened by humans, but by taking a few simple steps  people can enjoy the beaches while keeping them “clean, dark, and flat” for sea turtles. Sea turtles’ eyes follow faint light in the night sky from the moon and stars. Bright, white lights, like those from houses and white flashlights, can confuse and disorient them. They will crawl towards these artificial lights instead of towards the water and can die if they cannot find their way to the water. Keeping lights shielded and using lights at long frequencies (amber to red lights) disturb turtles less. Franklin County has a lighting ordinance (§2015-1) to assist in the goal to reduce harmful lighting.

Franklin county also asks its beach goers to keep the beach “clean and flat”. Sea turtles can also be deterred from nesting, become hurt, or even die when they run into obstacles or large holes on the beach. Hatchlings that fall into holes are too small to get out, and large nesting adults cannot move backwards and can get caught in large holes, beach chairs, umbrellas, or other equipment. Franklin County has also adopted a “Leave No Trace” ordinance to encourage responsible behavior regarding these items (§2014-01).