Sea Turtle nesting season is winding down in Southwest Florida beach monitors say it’s been an especially good year for endangered Green Sea Turtles.

Sea turtle nest monitoring throughout Lee and Collier Counties this year boasts the third highest number of nests recorded since monitoring began.  While threatened loggerhead sea turtles remain most prevalent, endangered Green sea turtles are the comeback story of the season which runs from May through October. 

Bonita Beach enjoyed its first ever recorded Green nest, and sea turtle biologist Amanda Bryant with the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation said Sanibel and Captiva Islands saw a marked increase in green sea turtle nesting activity.

“Our record prior to this was eight nests between the two islands; One on Captiva and seven on Sanibel,” said Bryant.  “And this year we had 21 Green nests on Sanibel and two on Captiva.  That’s more than we’ve ever recorded.”

Experts attribute the increase in Green nesting activity, at least in part, to years’ worth of conservation efforts.  While the total number of nests on Southwest Florida beaches this season is down from last year, the number of successful hatches is up due to storm surge from tropical storms in 2012.