Highland Beach Sea Turtle Team

08/14/2026

Besides being cute, sea turtles have so much more to offer.

08/01/2026

As we close out July, nesting has slowed substantially. But our team of volunteers are busy with the final few months of what the adult nesting sea turtles have left behind their nests and the hatchlings.
Here are our 2026 totals as of July 31st:

Leatherback nests - 20
Loggerhead nests - 754
Green nests - 194

All our leatherback nests have hatched out and now we are busy taking inventories on the hatched nests of Greens and Loggerheads, which is considerably higher than 2025 when we had 205 nests at the end of July. But we still have not broken our 2023 record when we had 970 loggerhead nests.

Green turtles will still continue to nest throughout August and possibly into September.

It's a magical time on our turtle beach but also filled with risks. Birds, crabs, fox and racoons also know what is happening.

We have a living nursery on Highland Beach right now, and our volunteers will still rise before dawn to look for tracks, large and small, fending off predators with the goal of giving these hatchlings a fighting chance at survival.

06/30/2026

As we hit our halfway mark through this nesting season, we are happy to announce that we are closing out June with a nice round number of 700 nests on our 2.8 miles of paradise.
Our team is very busy now with nesting, hatches and the occasional reward of sighting an adult on her way back out after nesting.
We close out June with 20 Leatherback nests, 598 Loggerhead nests and 82 Green turtle nests.
With the big 4th of July celebrations upcoming, please be respectful of the turtles that are coming up to nest and the hatchlings trying to make their way to the water.
Never leave debris on the beach, fill in any holes, knock down any sandcastles and remove beach furniture.
Wishing everyone a great 4th of July celebration and happy 250th birthday America 🇺🇸🐢🌊🎆

06/23/2026

interesting research!

Marine turtles migrate across entire ocean basins, crossing international borders. Until now, tracking their origin has been a challenge.

This week, NOAA scientists, together with our partners, are introducing ShellBank, the first global marine turtle traceability toolkit. We’ve aggregated over 20,000 DNA records from 335 locations across 59 countries. By using genetics like a fingerprint, we can now determine where a turtle comes from and help law enforcement identify the origin of illegal trade.

Read more about how genetics are transforming marine turtle conservation at https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2026.1819114/full

Photo credit: © Jürgen Freund / WWF
Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata) swimming through a reef. Kimbe Bay, West New Britain, Papua New Guinea. 31 May 2010.

06/21/2026

Happy Father's Day to all the great dads out there, and to the male sea turtles that are very busy keeping our female turtles hard at work nesting on our beach every night.

06/18/2026

sharing this very sad story from South Walton Turtle Watch - this is why we advocate for clean, dark and flat beaches. One of my biggest worries is that a turtle will get caught up in beach furniture left out and drag it back to the water. Then it becomes a drowning situation, like this one.
I quote from the permit holder for South Walton Beach and concur on all levels:

"Looking at these photos, I’m heartbroken. I’m angry. And frankly, I’m disgusted.
Because this wasn’t bad luck. This wasn’t nature taking its course. This was preventable.
Every chair left behind. Every tent. Every toy. Every obstacle left on a beach has the potential to become a deadly trap for wildlife.
We ask for because these animals already face enough challenges without having to navigate ours too.
After everything she survived, this is a battle she never should have had to fight.
This is why we will never stop pushing . Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not ever. "

06/17/2026

Check out this beautiful green turtle that our team member Beverly Aluise Knight captured this morning. After nesting, making her way over big mounds of seaweed, she finally got out to deeper water and best part is the very end, when she comes up for a big breath and I'm sure ready to go take a rest on a reef somewhere.
Thanks for sharing Bev.

06/17/2026

As we close out this World Sea Turtle Day, this year the theme being, "the urgent need to protect sea turtles from plastic pollution, climate change, fishing bycatch and habitat loss."
Some of our team had an interesting and meaningful Sea Turtle Day, with inventories of leatherback nests in the morning and a planned release after dark.
What was not expected was a live hatch of a loggerheads while preparing to release the leatherback hatchlings.
There is something profoundly moving about standing on a dark beach and watching tiny hatchlings scamper to the ocean.
An experience becomes a turning point, it's not just about helping turtles, it's about our role in protecting fragile ecosystems.
The knowledge that a fraction of them will make it to adulthood, to return to our shores decades later to keep the cycle going.
And knowing our efforts and the efforts of the environmental groups all over Florida, are giving these creatures a better chance at survival.

06/14/2026

With hatches starting to pop everyday now, both leatherback and loggerheads, and nesting season in high gear, we are taking care of business with preparing freshly painted stakes, thanks to our young friends Ava & Mila, stocking up on supplies for our team of 25.
Every single donation we receive goes right into keeping this cabinet stocked for our dedicated team.
Not quite halfway into June and we have over 400 loggerhead nests, greens are starting to show up on a regular basis.

06/01/2026

June arrived and so did the green sea turtles, right on schedule! And our first leatherback nest hatched!! Feels like summer!!