Storms and sea turtles — how you can help

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Nesting season is still underway for Florida's sea turtles, and while sea turtles have a nesting strategy that accommodates natural storms, higher wind and wave events generated by storms both on and offshore can have impacts on hatchlings, sea turtles and their nests. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) is sharing information about what you can do if you come across a stranded, trapped or injured sea turtle or hatchling on the beach.

After high wind and wave events, you may spot sea turtle hatchlings tangled in seaweed on the shore or in places they don't belong like pools or yards. After emerging from their nests, sea turtle hatchlings make their initial, multiple-mile ocean journey over the sand and into the ocean to find floating plants for food and shelter. These floating sargassum patches can be carried onshore by storm currents and wind, sometimes carrying posthatchling sea turtles with them. Sea turtle hatchlings are protected - all sea turtles are listed as threatened or endangered species - and often need specialized care. If you find one of these small "washback" sea turtle hatchlings, don't pick it up and never put it back in the ocean - you can best help by immediately calling the FWC's 24-hour Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922) for direction on appropriate actions to take. Please note that sea turtles and hatchlings actively crawling towards the ocean do not need assistance.

After storms and high wind and wave events, you may also come across sea turtle eggs exposed by waves. Unfortunately, sea turtle eggs rarely survive the tumult of being swept from their nests. Please leave them in place, as they will not have survived the storm. Female sea turtles deposit several nests throughout the nesting season, so that even if a hurricane or tropical storm hits during nesting season, there is a high probability at least a few of the nests will incubate successfully. No storm season is a total loss for Florida's nesting sea turtles. Even in years when Florida sustained direct impacts from multiple storms, hatching and emergence success rates were still within the normal range.

With nesting season continuing through October in Florida, there are additional ways you can help sea turtles, including keeping beaches clear, clean and dark. Taking beach gear home with you at the end of the day, filling in any holes you dig in the sand, properly disposing of trash and recycling fishing line, and keeping lights off when on or along the beach at night will all go a long way to helping with sea turtle nesting success. You can also help by reporting stranded, injured, trapped or dead sea turtles and hatchlings to the FWC's Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).

Learn more about sea turtles at MyFWC.com/SeaTurtle.