Sea Turtle Season Ends With Strong Numbers for Loggerheads

Sea Turtle nesting season in Collier County officially ended on Thursday, October 31, 2025, and according to Mary Toro, Environmental Supervisor for the Collier County Sea Turtle program, “We had a great season; good nesting, great hatching, and no large storms.”   

Preliminary numbers show a total of 1,177 nests and 1,291 false crawls were identified on these Collier County beaches: Barefoot Beach, Vanderbilt, Parkshore, City of Naples, and City of Marco Island. The City of Marco Island had 118 total nests and had the most false crawls at 310. Overall, the 2025 sea turtle season was more successful compared to 2024, with no tropical storm damage during the nesting season, and Marco Island doubling the total hatched nests from 38 to 77 hatched nests. 

On the Sea Turtle Weekly Activity Update provided by Collier County, only the beaches of Barefoot Beach, Vanderbilt, Parkshore, City of Naples, and City of Marco Island are monitored by the Sea Turtle Protection Program within the Collier County Parks and Recreation Division (CCPRD), encompassing 22.5 miles of shoreline. Marco Island was first surveyed for sea turtle activities in 1990 and in 1994, the Collier County Sea Turtle Protection Program was developed to survey mainland beaches to comply with the permit requirement for beach renourishment and raking. Collier County added Barefoot Beach in 1991, along with Vanderbilt, Park Shore, and the City of Naples 

The other county beaches reflected in the Sea Turtle weekly activity update such as the Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park is monitored by the State Park staff; Keewaydin Island is monitored by the Conservancy of SW Florida; Cape Romano Complex, Sea Oats Islands are monitored by Rookery Bay NERR; and the Ten Thousand Islands are monitored by the US Fish and Wildlife Services and Rookery Bay NERR.