May brings one of our favorite seasons of the year: sea turtle nesting season! Each year, the endangered loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley and green sea turtles arrive on our beautiful white–sand beaches to dig nests and lay eggs.
The amazing part is what happens after the eggs are laid and the mama turtle returns to the Gulf of Mexico. That’s when hundreds of volunteers step in to help ensure the baby turtles find their way to the water. Alabama’s Share The Beach program enlists volunteers to patrol the beach and record each nest. The nests are marked and protective coverings are placed to keep predators at bay. When it’s close to time for the hatchlings to emerge, the volunteers sit with the nests to help the babies on their journey to the shore and beyond.
What can you do to help?
- Number one on the list: Don’t disturb the turtle nests. It’s a federal crime to interfere with nesting sea turtles, hatchlings or their nests.
- Keep the beaches dark at night by refraining from using flashlights or camera flash. Also, at your beach lodging, turn off patio and deck lights, and shield any indoor lighting. Baby turtles find their way to the beach using moonlight or star light. Artificial lights can confuse them.
- If you see turtle tracks, don’t disturb them. The turtle volunteers patrol the beaches each morning searching for fresh tracks.
- Pick up your trash as well as any other litter you see, and Leave Only Footprints on the beach.
A few fun sea turtle facts:
- Nesting season is May 1 through October 31.
- The Endangered Species Act protects our sea turtles.
- Sea turtles are the last of the ancient reptile, first appearing about 200 million years ago.
- Adult loggerhead turtles weigh between 175 and 300 pounds and can live more than 50 years.
- The sea turtle nests contain an average of 110 ping-pong-size eggs. Only a few young turtles will make it to adulthood.
- Since 2003, an estimated 67,000+ sea turtles have hatched on Alabama’s beaches from Dauphin Island to Orange Beach.
Visit the Share The Beach website for more sea turtle information, to volunteer, or to make a donation.