Hatchling’s Challenging Journey from Nest to Surf

Attachments

Sea Turtle Activity Update June 27.docx.pdf

A mama loggerhead nested here about 60 days ago. Seeing a loggerhead mama is a once-in-a-lifetime event.  And observing hatchlings (baby sea turtles) emerging from their sandy nest, seeing the world for the very first time, and heading for the open ocean is close to miraculous. A hatchling weighs no more than a golf ball; for June and July, they will be emerging from their nests. Some will not make it to the open waters and beyond; others are attacked by birds, ants, and other local wildlife, or lights from the condos misdirect or disorient them. Rather than go to the ocean, they go towards the dunes, vegetation, swimming pools and parking lots. One in 1,000 will survive to adulthood - it is a game of odds, according to experts. This is the last time they will be on land till the females return to this beach to nest. Let’s help them get across the sand to the ocean by picking up trash and filling in holes on the beach, knocking down sandcastles and removing chairs, umbrellas and other obstacles.