Share The Beach! Be Sea Turtle Friendly

• Avoid using flashlights or flash photography on the beach at night.
• Turn off outside patio lights and shield indoor lights from shining onto the beach at night.
• Do not disturb sea turtle nests.
• Leave sea turtle tracks undisturbed.
• Do not leave trash on the beach.
• Volunteer and Adopt-a-Nest.

Turtle Tidbits

• Sea Turtle Nesting Season is May 1 - October 31
• Three species of sea turtles nest on Alabama’s Gulf Coast: Green, Kemp’s Ridley and Loggerhead
• Sea Turtles are protected by the Endangered Species Act. It is against the law to disturb nesting sea turtles, hatchlings, or their nests.
• Sea turtles first appeared about 200 million years ago when dinosaurs still roamed the earth. Sea turtles, the last of the ancient reptiles, are like living fossils.
• Female sea turtles lay an average of 100 leathery, ping-pong-size eggs at a time. Only a few young turtles, however, will make it to adulthood.
• Hatchling sea turtles find their way to the Gulf waters by moonlight or starlight.
• Building lights along the shore may confuse the baby sea turtles, drawing them away from the water.
• Adult loggerhead sea turtles weigh between 175 and 350 pounds. Baby hatchlings weigh only one to two ounces.
• Sea turtle egg incubation period is 55 to 75 days. Most hatchlings emerge together in an “eruption” of babies from the nest.