Sea Turtles

Nesting season began a little over six weeks ago, and this week marks NOAA’s official Sea Turtle Week. The most recent Southwest Florida numbers available are from, roughly, the end of the first week of June, and they are about the same as this time last year.

It’s the first week of sea turtle nesting season in Southwest Florida, and this year the thousands of loggerheads and greens that nest on our beaches have a new ally in nine-year-old entrepreneur Naomi Haynam. The Cape Coral pre-teen so loves sea turtles she’s making beach-themed earrings and selling them at home, online, and in parks to raise money to donate to volunteer sea turtle protection groups.

When hatchlings go the wrong way, it's almost kindly called a "disorientation." But the fact is, nearly every time they perish headed in the wrong direction, it's a preventable death sentence. Nowhere in Southwest Florida is it worse than on Fort Myers Beach. Even town officials admit it, working hard for that to change.

Four months ago, a sweet sea turtle named Nutella arrived at the Turtle Hospital in the Florida Keys barely alive. The doctors weren't sure she'd make it. This Earth Day more than 200 people gathered on a beach in the Florida Keys to watch her beat the odds.

Sea turtles had a much better nesting season this year on Keewaydin Island than in 2024. The Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s sea turtle research team counted 558 nests all loggerhead nests except three from green turtles. This year, more than 38,000 hatchlings made it.

On Sanibel and Captiva islands this year, there were 14 green turtle nests — but the loggerhead turtle rules

Help from the Sanibel-based Hammerhead Technology has enabled the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation to launch a website that tracks satellite-tagged sea turtles.

It’s sea turtle nesting season, and everyone knows what that means — turn off your lights at night. Flipping your light switch is an easy way to feel like an environmental superstar, but what else can you do to support these little turtles?

It's sea turtle nesting season. Dont forget to turn out your lights at night on the beach and stay away from momma sea turtles when they are nesting

The Florida Department of Health in Lee County lifted nearly a dozen health alerts due to red tide