First Sea Turtle Nest of the Season Spotted

Sea Turtle nesting season is officially here!

On Wednesday, MacArthur Beach State Park on the northern end of Singer Island posted a picture of the first loggerhead turtle nest of the season to their Instagram page. The beach park can get up to 1500 loggerhead nests a year throughout their beach.

Since sea turtle season is once again here, it is important to remind everyone what to do when they find themselves around sea turtle nests:

Keep Your Distance
Don't touch or get too close to a nesting sea turtle. Make sure to keep your distance, stay quiet, and keep all lights off. Failure to do so could cause the turtle not to lay eggs or negatively affect how he covers her nest.

Let Hatchlings Emerge
If you see a hatchling on the beach, do not aid them in getting into the water. Don't remove or dig hatchlings out of a nest or remove sand from above the nest. Doing so will make it more difficult of the other hatchlings to emerge.

Turn Off All Lights
When a sea turtle hatches, it uses the light from the moon coming off the ocean to find its way to the water. As a result, any other lights could cause confusion and possibly prevent the sea turtle from making it to the water. If you have, or are staying at beach front property, make sure to turn all lights off when you are not home. If you are home, close your blinds at night to avoid possible confusing the hatchling.

Be Careful When Digging
When building that sand castle on the beach, make sure only to dig sand out below the high tide line in the hard packed sand. This will avoid the possibility of incubating sea turtle nests. Also, when you leave the beach, make sure to fill back in any holes you might have dug and level any sand castles you might have built. This will ensure that the hatchlings don't fall into any holes and can get to the ocean easier.