SARASOTA -- Gulf Sea Turtle nesting season begins Sunday (May 1st). For people who live on or visit beaches on Florida's gulf side, it's time for a reminder of all the things to avoid at this time of year.
Soon, female sea turtles will be climbing up onto beaches to find a good spot for a nest and deposit their eggs. If humans disturb a female, she's likely to run and just dump her eggs in the water, ensuring none of them will survive. Leave the sea turtles alone. Avoid any patch of ground surrounded by stakes, usually marked as a sea turtle nest. If you find a nest that isn't marked, call the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at their toll-free hotline, (888) 404-3922. FWC will send trained volunteers to stake the site.
Jaclyn Irwin with Sarasota County government says it's important to keep beaches unlit at night so that turtles and hatchlings may use their inborn navigational system to get back to water. "They're using the dune, they're using the darker landscape to contrast. So by having artificial light on the landside, that can sometimes be disorienting for sea turtles," Irwin said. She says turtles are especially sensitive to white, blue and green lights, because they resemble reflections off the water. She recommends using a red light or similar long wavelength light if illumination is needed.
Sea turtle nesting season on Gulf beaches runs through October 31st.
Photo: Sarasota County Government/ Canva