858 turtle nests have been found in St. Johns County. Now the turtles are hatching and on the move

ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH, Fla. – It’s that time of year again and baby turtles are hatching and running for the ocean in St. Augustine Beach.

The numbers are in, and 858 turtle nests have been located on the beach.

So far, 390 of those nests have hatched and produced 34,363 hatchlings who have used the sharp tooth on their snout to break their egg open and head for the ocean.

Finally, there have been a total of 662 reported false crawls. False crawls occur when a female sea turtle crawls onto the beach but then returns to the water without laying eggs.

Once the mother turtle digs a hole, makes the nest, and covers it with sand to camouflage it, she heads for the ocean to rest and does not return to the nest.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, sea turtles make between 40,000 and 84,000 nests per year.