2019 is shaping up to be a very good year for sea turtle nests along First Coast beaches.
The Beaches Sea Turtle Patrol monitors eight miles of shoreline along Atlantic, Neptune and Jacksonville beaches.
Patrol volunteer Les Methvin said they’ve already located 49 nests since May 1, which may make this the best nesting season in seven years. “We had a record year in 2012 when we had 105 nests … and at this time that year we had 50 nests, I believe. So we’re right on track for that number.”
One sign of sea turtle nests on the beach is the tracks that lead away from the water. “And then there’ll be some disturbed sand where she’s made her nest and then covered it up and then some more tracks going out. And these tracks typically run 2-and-a-half feet wide for the loggerheads and they get bigger with the greens and even bigger with the leatherbacks,” Methvin said.
Beachgoers who come across a sea turtle nest should contact the beach patrol so they can mark it.
Sea turtle nesting season runs from May through October.
Contact reporter Cyd Hoskinson at choskinson@wjct.org, 904-358-6351 and on Twitter at @cydwjctnews.
Photo used under Creative Commons license.
