Sea Turtle Season on Cape San Blas

It's May 1st and that means it's Sea Turtle Season! We LOVE our Sea Turtles here at the Cape! Cape San Blas is home to the Loggerhead Sea Turtles, an endangered species. This area has the largest population of nesting Loggerhead Sea Turtles in Northwest Florida.

Sea Turtle Season is May 1st to October 31st. Nests are typically made between high tide line and the dune fronts. The turtles emerge onto the beach at night every 14 days, laying an average of four clutches containing roughly 100-120 eggs in each. The eggs hatch about 60 days later. The little hatchlings will wait until dark to make their long trek back to the Gulf.

Super interesting fact: Every two to three years, female loggerheads mate in coastal waters and then may travel over 1200km back to the very same beach where she hatched as a baby, called the natal beach! It is on this same beach that she layers her own eggs as an adult.

The Loggerhead Sea Turtle was listed as threatened in 1978 under the Endangered Species Act and has federal protection. Help us protect these massive, beautiful marine creatures so they continue to come back year after year! Keep the beaches clean, flat and dark and follow our Leave No Trace Ordinance. At the end of your day at the beach, please do your part by filling holes, removing your trash and beach equipment, leaving only your footprints behind.

Fun Turtle Related Activities:

Turtle Patrol- The Turtle Patrol walks roughly 6 miles of beach every morning to monitoring nesting and hatching activity. They look the “crawl” (tracks) of an adult turtle coming from the water and follow it to the nesting location. At that point the dig to locate eggs, screen and cover the eggs, and mark off the area with stakes and tape to protect the nest and warn beach-goers not to disturb. Schedule your Turtle Walk! Click Here!

Adopt a nest! For a donation, you can help with the effort to protect the sea turtles! You will get a sign on the nest with your message, a certificate of adoption, a picture of your nest, and an end of the season report on the nesting and hatching activity. Click Here for more info on how to Adopt a Nest.

Tour the Turtle Center- Forgotten Coast Sea Turtle Center. Click Here for Turtle Center.