Jupiter Beach,  June 18, 2011
Every summer from May through August, the sea turtles begin their nesting season in Florida.  The beaches in Jupiter are littered with stakes indicating nests to aid in a statewide conservation program. 

Sea turtles live their entire life in the ocean.  They are reptiles that have existed for over a million years.  A sea turtle breathes air. When it is time to sleep, they wedge under a rock close to the shore or take a snooze while floating on the surface of deep water. The only time the sea turtle comes ashore is when the female lays her eggs.  

When a sea turtle gets night and day mixed and lands on the beach, you know something is wrong.  We called Florida Fish & Wildlife this weekend to aid in this sea turtle’s rescue.  This 40 year old ancient mariner, The Loggerhead, should be crawling out of the water during the night to lay her eggs.  Pollution, lighted beaches, loss of nesting habitat, drowning in shrimp nets and other fishing gear threaten their survival.

Turtles migrate thousands of miles, but they usually return to lay their eggs on the same beach where they were hatched. The turtle, weighing several hundred pounds, digs a nest with her rear flippers.  She deposits approximately 100 ping-pong ball sized eggs into a hole, covers them with sand and returns to the sea.  The nest temperature during incubation  determines a sea turtle’s sex–boys like it cool and girls like it hot. After a two-month incubation period,  the tiny hatchlings emerge from the sand and make a scramble to the sea.  This wondrous feat is happening every evening along our shoreline until the end of August.