Sea turtle nesting season officially starts today, and Port Royal Beach is ready.
A major berm restoration project at 33rd Avenue South is now complete. The county brought in 45,000 tons of sand to rebuild the berm as part of an emergency project ahead of hurricane season. Crews aimed to finish before May 1 to avoid disturbing nesting activity.
Jeff Schmid, environmental research manager at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, says nesting has already started.
“Last weekend, we had a loggerhead come ashore at North Keewaydin. And that was the first nest that we've recorded for the season. And last night we had another loggerhead come ashore more south on Keewaydin. So the females are starting," Schmid said.
He says there are several ways people can help protect the turtles this season.
“So we try to encourage the use of turtle-friendly lighting, which is the more amber color of lighting, picking up beach furniture, making sure there's not beach furniture or things left on the beaches for turtles to encounter when they come ashore to nest,” Schmid said.
He also reminds people to fill in holes before leaving the beach, stay away from marked nests, and never touch or use flash on hatchlings.
Now that the beach access and parking are back open, people like Naples resident Corey Griffen are relieved.
“So we're having a beach get-together for my wife's birthday. And we had been told that there's been piles of sand here, so we weren't sure if we were going to be able to park here this weekend. So my wife just sent me down here to check. As we can see, it's ready to go, so we're pumped about it,” Griffen said.
He’s also happy the project was done with sea turtles in mind.
“You got to protect the sea turtles, especially everything that happens here with hurricanes. You know, with the Gulf here, you never know with spillings or whatever. You got to keep them safe. We need them," he said.
Sea turtle nesting season ends in October.
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