Sea Turtle Nesting Season begins May 1 2025

Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles:

Sea Turtle Nesting Season is Here!

It's true! The 2025 sea turtle nesting season is officially underway!

From now through October 31st , mama sea turtles will be coming ashore to lay their eggs along our beautiful beaches, and eventually hatchlings will make their way to the ocean!

Here’s how YOU can help protect them:

✅ Keep the Beaches #CleanDarkFlat

Clean: Remove trash and beach gear when you leave the beach.

Dark: Use turtle-safe lighting / flashlights while on the beach at night.

Flat: Knock down sandcastles and fill in holes before you leave. (Even the smallest hole can be an obstacle for a sea turtle hatchling!)

Never disturb a nesting turtle or a marked nest.
If you see one, admire from a distance or call (South Walton Turtle Watch) Hotline: 850-865-4503 to report a distressed sea turtle!

Thank you for joining us in protecting these amazing creatures!

VOLUNTEER BEACH AMBASSADOR
Thank you to Friends of South Walton Sea Turtles - VBA Volunteers for engaging with the community through volunteering for education events in the community and schools. Learn more:

South Walton Turtle Watch report for 2025 nesting season

Sea Turtle Season 2025: officially wrapped!

We laughed. We cried. We reminded people roughly 387 times that beachfront lights are not, in fact, romantic mood lighting for nesting turtles. (Shout-out to everyone who actually listened — you’re the real MVPs.)

This season kept us busy with 101 documented crawls, which broke down into:

• 66 total nests — 41 Loggerhead, 25 Green

• 35 false crawls — 22 Loggerhead, 13 Green

(Shout-out to the turtles who changed their minds at the last minute. We get it. Commitment is hard.)

Our first girl of the year showed up on May 19 with a Loggerhead false crawl, followed by the first nest on May 25. The season wrapped with a Green false crawl on August 23 and the final nest on August 24. They really kept us guessing per usual.

Now for the numbers we love to brag about:

• 4,975 total hatchlings made their adorable dash to the Gulf

— 2,951 Loggerhead

— 2,024 Green

• Average incubation: 66 days

• Biggest clutch: 171 eggs (Nest 50, Green — she was very committed)

• Smallest clutch: 8 eggs (Nest 24, Loggerhead — small but mighty!)

• Average hatch success: 75%

• Average emergence success: 73%

• Predation events: 3 fox, 2 coyote

• Water disturbances: ZERO — a rare miracle we will be bragging about until at least next May.

To our volunteers: thank you for walking and driving miles before sunrise, digging through sand like over-caffeinated archaeologists, and caring for every nest like it was your own.

And to South Walton: thank you for cheering us on, dimming your lights, spreading the word, and supporting these incredible animals season after season.

Same time next year? Bring sunscreen. And patience. And maybe a flashlight you promise not to use.

All work conducted under FWC MTP 120.

Thanks for the update. So important in the cycle of life!

@Teresa, thank you for the update.

A good friend is a volunteer who walks his stretch of beach on his designated day. He did say that the hordes of kids with flashlights are causing an increase of false crawls, etc. True?

My question for you or anyone: does a flashlight with red lens/light work to be otherwise invisible to the turtles? Or do they see that light as well? If yes, perhaps in the off season, there could begin an education campaign to get at least some of the young philistines to use red light?

@Teresa, thank you for the update.

A good friend is a volunteer who walks his stretch of beach on his designated day. He did say that the hordes of kids with flashlights are causing an increase of false crawls, etc. True?

My question for you or anyone: does a flashlight with red lens/light work to be otherwise invisible to the turtles? Or do they see that light as well? If yes, perhaps in the off season, there could begin an education campaign to get at least some of the young philistines to use red light?

Absolutely red works. You can also get red covers for regular flashlights.

Development has really harmed nesting.