Brevard County is home to one of the largest sea turtle populations in the country. With a busy tourist season coming up, there are a few things wildlife officials want travelers to know.

Sea Turtle Nesting Season runs through October 26

Thousands of turtles nest on Brevard County beaches

Cover up any holes you dig, keep lights off the beach at night

We came across two travelers, Brian and Mary, who journeyed all the way to Melbourne’s beaches from England, but had no idea they were visiting during the start of Sea Turtle Nesting Season.

“I’ve heard of sea turtles before and I’ve seen them nesting on the beach, but no I’ve never heard of the season,” Brian Kemp said.

It’s not surprising either. The majority of tourists who visit Florida’s beaches have no idea what sea turtle nesting season is.

Just last year, there were between 18,000 and 19,000 green sea turtle nests along the 70-mile ocean stretch in Brevard County alone.



With so many tourists, The Sea Turtle Preservation Society says their main problem is people digging holes below the high tide line.

“A beachgoer did dig a very deep hole and a turtle did crawl up, fall into that hole, and end up upside down and she could not get out and had to be rescued by quite a few people,” volunteer David Hochberg said.

In fact, even digging small holes for sand castles can cause a potential threat.

“If you’re above the high tide line there can be a sea turtle nest pretty much anywhere past that high tide line,” Hochberg said. “Even digging down a foot or so, you can run the risk of running into a sea turtle nest.”

We only had to walk several feet along the beach to find a freshly-dug hole about a foot deep that was a potential threat to a sea turtle mother.

“If this was much deeper and a little wider she could actually fall in here and not be able to get out,” David explained.

David says the Sea Turtle Preservation Society’s many volunteers canvas the beaches for holes like the one we found and do their best to fill them up, but hope beach goers remember to do this before they leave the beach.

In addition, you should remember while the beaches do stay open during the night, any type of light or flashlights that can guide the sea turtles in the wrong direction are prohibited until October 31, the end of sea turtle nesting season.

Sea turtles in Florida

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission keeps track of several sea turtle species during nesting season, most notably the Loggerhead, Green Turtle and Leatherback species.

The number of nests along Florida beaches has grown over the last two years, after falling in 2013. Parts of Florida saw a record number of nests, particularly along the West Central Florida coast.

For some turtle species, almost all of the nesting in the country takes place in Florida. Brevard County had the second highest number of Loggerhead turtle nests in 2015 with 23,977 nests, behind Palm Beach County. Brevard County also saw the most Green Turtle nests in 2015, with 18,549.

From time to time, a Hawksbill turtle nest or a Kemp's Ridley turtle nest will be found in Florida as well, but that is rare. The Kemp's Ridley is the rarest sea turtle species in the world.