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It is amazing to walk the beach and see sea turtle tracks and to think they have been around 200 million years. In Siesta Key where I took this photo, volunteers comb the beach every morning looking for tracks so they can mark off the nests. The loggerheads are coming to the shores of Georgia and Florida to lay their eggs from now until October.
Sea turtles and salmon return to their birthplace to lay their eggs. One turtle can lay from 70 – 190 eggs depending on which of the 8 species and unfortunately only 1 in 1000 make it to adulthood due to boats, trash, predators etc.
The eggs take about 70 days to hatch and they remain in the nest for a week before digging themselves out. They leave the nest drawn to moonlight or phosphorescence from the ocean. Residents living on beaches are encouraged to turn off their lights at night as the turtle can be drawn towards them increasing their demise from predators. Some beaches have laws to enforce the lights off.