Saturday, July 21, 2012

Sea turtle nesting grounds

It has been some time since anything has been posted to the blog. Since it is summer in the northern hemisphere a search for sea turtle beaches might be a worth while highlight to a summer vacation. First up let me tell you that sea turtle eggs hatch in the warm sands of only a few of the beaches in the world. Here is a list of some of them:

  • the Brunswick Islands  North Carolina
  • south west Florida coast
  • north coast of Australia
  • South Pardre Island - Texas
Almost all of them are located next to warm shallow ocean areas.

Watching sea turtles hatch is a night time activity. Conservation groups like to educate and help the general public learn and observe the nightly hatching events that take place a few months each year. You can view a video of sea turtles hatching in North Carolina at this website.

Generally no added light is allowed in the area of the hatching so keep your flashlights at home. A good idea would be to choose a night when the moon is bright enough to allow viewing of the event under natural night time light.

Enjoy the summer and remember to not harm the coastal wildlife. Take photos and memories with you and leave everything else alone.