Protect the sea turtle with these tips amid nesting season

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, (WINK)—It’s sea turtle nesting season, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) says you can help protect the nesting and hatching sea turtles and still enjoy our coastal areas.

When you go to the beach, you can affect the nesting season because shorelines provide important habitat for several endangered sea turtle species.

Sea turtles typically return to nest in March along Florida’s southeast Atlantic coast from Brevard County south to Broward County, while nesting begins on the Gulf Coast and north Florida beaches in April or May.

To help protect nesting sea turtles, keep the beaches clean and dark. Give them space and try not to disturb them.

Lights on or near the beach need to be turned off to prevent sea turtles from being misdirected. They can also disturb nesting sea turtles and their hatchlings, leading them away from the ocean and toward danger.

If you want to watch sea turtles on the beach, don’t get too close, as nesting turtles might leave the beach before they finish the nesting process.

It is illegal to harm or disturb nesting sea turtles, their nests or eggs, or to handle hatchlings.

Clean up the beach before you leave. Female sea turtles move up the beach and away from the water to lay their eggs. If there are obstacles in the way, they could get trapped and may not nest.

For more information about nesting sea turtles and how you can help, click here