Florida sea turtle nesting season: Reckless people blamed for false crawls on Vero Beach

Yahoo

22-07-2025

An increase in sea turtle nesting season false crawls on Treasure Coast beaches has one conservation group urging residents to stay off the beach at night, be more careful if you do go, and don't scare away the animals.
About 70% of turtles' attempts to nest were thwarted on a half-mile stretch of Vero Beach between Sexton Plaza Beach and Humiston Beach Park since June 1, said Kendra Bergman, executive director of Coastal Connections, a Vero Beach-based sea turtle conservation group.
That touristy strip of oceanfront hotels and restaurants has attracted about 60 people a night, with a peak of 108, Bergman told TCPalm. About a quarter of them used white flashlights and many interacted with turtles, "ultimately influencing the turtle to not nest and return to the ocean," Bergman said.
"Although not every false crawl is caused by humans, the human-influenced false crawls are a major concern and completely preventable," Bergman said.
Florida sea turtle nesting season
Avoid the beach after dark from March through October. In Vero Beach, the public beach parks close at 10 p.m.
If you insist on going at night, do not use a phone or flashlight because the white light scares nesting sea turtles. Human eyes will adjust to the dark, and the moon gives off enough natural light to stay safe.
Join a guided turtle walk or daytime turtle dig to search for live hatchlings that didn't make it out of the nest and release them into the ocean.
Always view wildlife from a distance. If you insist on going at night, give turtles lots of space so you can watch the entire nesting process without disturbing them.
False crawls, light pollution, lack of rain, climate change
Other false crawl culprits — some natural and some human-caused — include coastal light pollution, beach furniture and other obstructions, and holes left in the sand and some natural beach composition issues.
In June and July, the sand can become dry when there's no rain, said Lauren Maline, a biologist with Ecological Associates. The private consultant based in Jensen Beach documented higher rates of false crawls during a two- to three-week period in mid-June and early-July, when there was an unusual lack of rain, Maline said.
"Extremely dry sand can inhibit the ability of our sea turtles to properly dig their egg chambers," Maline said. "During times of decreased rain, we often see more abandoned nesting attempts, where the turtles have sometimes started the nesting process, but then abandoned due to less-than-ideal conditions. "
Recent rain "helped a lot in reducing the number of false crawls we are seeing each day," Maline said in mid-July.
Loggerhead sea turtle nests
For loggerhead sea turtles, it is not unusual for the false crawl rate to exceed 50% or even average 60% as it did on the Treasure Coast in 2024, Maline said.
The percentage of successful crawls above the high tide line that result in nests averages 40-50%, and in 2024, it was:
37% in Indian River County
41% in Martin County
42% in St. Lucie County
So far this year, it's been:
44.1% in Indian River County
49.1% in Martin County
53% in St. Lucie County
"Data actually shows that as a whole, we are at a higher nesting success than last season," Maline said. "It is still early in the nesting season, so these numbers will change and this data only accounts for one species of the three that nest on our beaches."
The other two are greens and leatherbacks.
Loggerhead, green, leatherback turtle nesting numbers
Loggerhead sea turtles have laid this many nests so far this year:
1,305 in Martin County
3,865 in Indian River County
3,930 in St. Lucie County
Green sea turtles have laid this many nests so far this year:
64 in Martin County
243 St. Lucie County
666 in Indian River County
Leatherback sea turtles have laid this many nests so far this year:
75 in Indian River County
218 in Martin County
245 in St. Lucie County
What is the nesting behavior of a sea turtle?
Sea turtles, which are on the federal endangered species list, live most of their lives in the ocean, but adult females lay their eggs on land. They often return to the same beach where they were born.
They migrate hundreds to thousands of miles between feeding grounds and nesting beaches every year. Leatherbacks are among the most highly migratory animals on earth, traveling as many as 10,000 miles or more each year, according to NOAA Fisheries.
The temperature of the sand determines the hatchlings' sex. Nests that are 81.86 degrees produce males while 88.8 degrees produces females, according to NOAA. Fluctuating temperatures will produce a mix.
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Loss and degradation of nesting and foraging habitats due to coastal development, pollution and climate change are among the most significant threats to sea turtles around the world. Others include:
Vessel strikes
Entanglement in marine debris
Bycatch from commercial and recreational fishing
In some areas, killing and eating turtles and their eggs.
Tim O'Hara is TCPalm's environment reporter. Contact him at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Florida sea turtle nesting season false crawls on Vero Beach
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