For a number of years, I was a volunteer sea turtle volunteer. I traipsed the beach, here in Florida, every Wednesday morning, looking for sea turtle tracks. I loved it. To see the sunrise, smell the ocean air, beach comb at a rather quick pace and look for tracks. Since 80% of Loggerhead sea turtles nest on Florida beaches, that’s what we usually found. Sea turtle season begins in May and ends sometime in October..whenever the last nest emerges, or hatches.

Sea turtles are amazing creatures and even though I’m not a volunteer any longer. I still love them and their stories. They are amazing reptiles and have existed for over one hundred million years! They live their entire lives in the ocean and only the female comes ashore to lay her eggs. It can take approximately 20 years before a female is old enough to reproduce and will usually come back to her birthplace to lay her nest after migrating thousands of miles. Once she lays her nest, she crawls back out to sea, leaving her it on its own. That nest will “cook” for about 63 days, before the little ones begin stirring. When she drops her eggs into her egg chamber she dug, they are not sexed. All that stuff depends on the temperature of the sand. Warm sand makes girls and cool sand makes boys and only 1 in a 1,000 hatchlings will survive to adulthood.

Because of those odds, Loggerhead turtles are considered to be “protected”, which is where the sea turtle patrols come in. Some protective measures are in place to help those babies survive. If you live on the beach, you must have specialized lighting outdoors because if you don’t, bright lights can frighten off the Mamas who want to lay eggs and can confuse the emerging hatchlings and keep them from going to the ocean. Sea turtles cannot crawl backwards, so if you leave something on the beach, such as a chair and they crawl into it, they cannot escape. They will turn and go back out to sea, drowning in that chair, because they breathe air and can hold their breath for a long time, but not long enough if choked by a chair. Helium air balloons? Deadly. Please don’t release them to celebrate anything, because when they deflate, some can fall into the ocean, resembling jellyfish to a turtle which is a yummy delicacy and will choke them to death.

If you’re walking on the beach at night, which is usually when all the nesting and emerging action takes place..please don’t use a flashlight, for the same reason specialized porch lights are required. If you see a Mama nesting, leave her alone. If you see hatchlings moving to the sea..watch, but don’t interfere. No flashes on your camera or phone. None. Lights can be deadly.

I could go on and on about these mystical, magical creatures I’m so in love with, but I think you have most of the information you need to help protect these magnificent beings.

Next week, I’ll share with you more information about this passion. Oh..and the reason I don’t patrol any longer, is that I have a trashed knee and cannot climb dunes or walk 4 miles in sand any longer. However, I can educate.

Happy Earth Day!