Marvel at Sea Turtle Nesting

St. George Island provides one of the best nesting locations for sea turtles. Sea turtles are among the oldest creatures in the world! For thousands of years the species has thrived despite a host of natural predators that prey on sea turtle eggs and hatchlings. Unfortunately, humans pose the greatest threat to these majestic reptiles today.

Nesting season is May through October, and special lighting and other rules apply during this time.

Protecting the Earth's Oldest Creatures

Sea turtles spend most of their lives at sea, emerging only to lay their eggs in a nest they excavate in the sand. During the late spring and summer months, female sea turtles migrate from the open Gulf to nest on the relatively undeveloped beaches of the Florida Panhandle. The beaches of northwest Florida provide excellent habitat for nesting sea turtles, and the barrier island beaches in the Apalachicola area have the greatest concentration. While the loggerhead is the most common turtle reported to nest here, there have been occasional reports of green sea turtles nesting and even rarer occurrences of leatherback nests.

Turtle Season

May 1 marks the beginning of sea turtle nesting throughout Florida. May is also when local volunteers begin walking beach areas to locate and mark off nesting sites. The turtles lay their eggs from May through October, with 50 to 150 baby turtles hatching after 45 to 60 days, usually at night. One female may nest several times in a season.

Leave No Trace

In order to help female turtles more easily navigate the beaches to nest and allow hatchlings a clear path back to the water, the Plantation has a Leave No Trace policy in place to help provide safe nesting grounds for the turtles.

Lights Out

Current research indicates that only one sea turtle hatchling in every 5,000 reaches adulthood. In Franklin County, and especially within the Plantation, we are working to increase these odds! We ask our residents and visitors to help us in our efforts to save the sea turtles.

In 1998, Franklin County passed a lighting ordinance for marine turtle protection to aid in the protection of sea turtles which the Plantation includes in their Architectural Policies. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has specific guidelines as it relates to sea turtle lighting.

Three Golden Rules of Beachfront Lighting:

Keep it LOW

Fixtures must be mounted as low as possible and still be appropriate for the needed purpose.
Bulb must produce the lowest wattage/lumens necessary for the needed purpose.

Keep it LONG

Lamp/Bulb must produce only long wavelength light (560 nm or greater, which is amber, orange, or red — not white)

Keep it SHIELDED.

Fixture must be completely downward-directed.
Fixture must be able to shield the bulb, lamp, or glowing lens from the beach and the night sky.*

Click here to see a more detailed explantation of the lighting guidelines.

* The Plantation is a Dark Sky Community meaning we have made a commitment to reducing light pollution and preserving the natural nighttime environment through responsible outdoor lighting practices. Please remember to keep curtains drawn at night and turn lights out in rooms that are not occupied.

While SOME solar lights can be acceptable, they must meet these same standards in terms of color, brightness and direction. Many decorative solar pathway lights sold in stores emit bright white LED light and would NOT be considered turtle-friendly if they are visible from the beach. Specially designed amber solar path lights can be acceptable if they are low to the ground and shielded.

Watch a 2020 Turtle Talk on the Sea Turtles of St. George Island by the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve.

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