05/04/2024
Sea turtle nesting season is upon us 🐢🏖
Be sure to full those holes in on the beach while making sand castles with the kiddos 🪣🏰⛱️🌊
𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗲𝗮 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗺𝗮!🐢
Three species of sea turtles nest on Alabama's Gulf Coast: Loggerhead, Kemp's Ridley, and Green sea turtles. Our most common nesting sea turtle here in Gulf Shores is the Loggerhead. At night, female Loggerheads will emerge from the Gulf to lay about 120 eggs in their nest and then return to the water. Baby sea turtles grow inside these eggs, and once they are all ready, they hatch and crawl out of their nest together. Just like their mama, Loggerhead turtles prefer nighttime, so they leave their nest, follow the light reflecting off the water from the moon, and crawl towards the Gulf in the dark.
It is important we help protect these sea turtles by doing the following:
🔦 Avoid using flashlights or flash photography on the beach at night. If you do use a light at night, please use red filter lights.
💡 Turn off outside patio lights and shield indoor lights from shining onto the beach at night.
🥚 Do not disturb sea turtle nests.
↔️ Keep your distance (at least 30 feet) from adult turtles that come onto the beach to nest.
🐢 Leave sea turtle tracks undisturbed.
👣 Leave Only Footprints! Do not leave beach gear, holes, or trash on the beach.
☎️ Report sea turtle sightings to 866-732-8878.
For more information, visit https://www.joinacf.org/stb.
📸 Rae Wildlife Photography
