Sea Turtle Hatchlings

Attachments

Sea Turtle Report 7-23-26

When do hatchlings emerge? According to FWC, “hatchlings ready to emerge wait just beneath the sand surface until conditions become cool. This temperature cue prompts them to emerge primarily at night, although some late-afternoon and early-morning emergences have been documented.

According to the Collier County Sea Turtle Annual Report, daily monitoring for hatched nests begins as the nest approaches its expected hatch date (approximately 60 days). Nests are observed for signs of hatchings, such as obvious depressions in the sand or hatchling tracks around the nest. Hatchlings that become disoriented by artificial light sources were tracked by staff, and these misdirected hatchlings were often found in nearby parking lots or pool areas, away from the water, or found dead from exhaustion or predated by nocturnal animals.

The average number of Loggerhead sea turtle eggs per nest (clutch size) in Collier County is 110 to 120 eggs per nest.

Artificial light is harmful to hatchlings on nesting beaches. According to FWC, “disorientation from artificial light causes thousands of hatchlings' deaths each year in Florida and is a significant marine turtle conservation problem.”

During July, per the MIPD website, the beach was patrolled and reports filed for July 1, 5, and July 8 (three nights) as of this report. Beach-facing condo residents have collected their own data for bright pedestrian lights for July 5, 7, 11, 12, 15, and 16. They took date/time stamped photos with pedestrian violations occurring between 9:00 - 10:00 PM.