JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is reminding the public of ways they can help sea turtles have a successful nesting season.
So far, just in the area of Naval Station Mayport, 21 Loggerhead nests have been spotted.
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Here are some tips on how you can help loggerhead turtles create nests safely:
- Give them space
- Remove beach furniture at night
- Keep our beaches clean and dark
- Don’t use flash if you take any photos
- Minimize noise and other disturbances
- Never disturbing turtle nests
Sea turtles and their nests are protected under state and federal law.
“Florida’s sandy beaches provide an important spring and summer nesting habitat for several species of federally threatened and endangered sea turtles, including loggerhead, leatherback, and green sea turtles, with occasional nesting by federally endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtles,” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said.
Getting too close (50 feet or less) to nesting sea turtles can cause them to leave the beach before they complete nesting.
All species of sea turtles and their nests are protected and should not be disturbed — it is illegal to harm, harass or take nesting sea turtles, their eggs, or hatchlings.
If you see someone disturbing a sea turtle nest, or see an injured, dead or harassed sea turtle, report it to the FWC’s Wildlife Alert hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922). Cell phone users can also call *FWC or #FWC or send a text to Tip@MyFWC.com.
For more information about nesting sea turtles and how you can help, visit MyFWC.com/SeaTurtle or see the FWC’s “Be a Beach Hero” brochure. You can also help sea turtles by reporting anyone disturbing a sea turtle or nest, as well as sea turtles that are sick, injured, entangled or dead to the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).
New lighting
Beachgoers and residents will soon start seeing some changes to the lighting in public areas along Jacksonville beach.
It’s a new campaign to help sea turtle hatchlings survive.
Beaches Energy, which services Jacksonville Beach residents, has partnered with the city of Jacksonville Beach and the Beaches Sea Turtle Patrol to create a special kind of light to prevent sea turtle hatchlings from getting confused when they crawl toward the ocean.
Allen Putnam, the director of Beaches Energy, and Matt Seeley, the project manager who will help install the new lights, joined us on The Morning Show on Thursday to explain the project.