Florida Coastal Conservancy

05/25/2026

It's the day after our 10th Annual Forgotten Coast Sea Turtle Festival, and we are over the moon!🌛 Many thanks to our wonderful attendees, vendors, sponsors, and volunteers for making this year's event a huge success! We saw beautiful artwork🎨; tasted delicious treats🌭; listened to great music🎶; and, most of all, learned about and celebrated all things turtle. 🐢 We extend special thanks to the City of Port St. Joe and the Village at Marina Cove Owners' Association for providing such a beautiful setting for this event. We look forward to welcoming you back next year - mark your calendars for the 11th Annual Forgotten Coast Sea Turtle Festival, Sunday, May 30, 2027!

05/21/2026

Thank you to Riley Lehman and the team at WMBB News 13 for helping to spread the word about sea turtle nesting season! Our Volunteers will be working hard over the next six months to protect these precious visitors - please help us help them by keeping our beaches clean, flat, and dark!

GULF COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) – Every morning at sunrise, members of the St. Joseph Peninsula Turtle Patrol walk the beach, looking for signs of new turtle crawls. They’ve been monitoring th…

05/19/2026

Nesting activity is ramping up on St. Joseph Peninsula! As we welcome more visitors to our beach - sea turtles and people - please remember to help do your part to keep it clean, flat, and dark out there. Tell your friends, neighbors, and renters about the importance of removing all beach equipment; leveling sand sculptures and filling holes, and turning lights off or using wildlife friendly red and amber lights.
We take pride in our beautiful coastline, and we appreciate all YOU do to make it a clean and safe environment!

*All work conducted by Authorized Personnel under FL Marine Turtle Permit 094.*

05/11/2026

While serving on detachment at Tyndall Air Force Base, Squadron VAQ-209 Sailors from Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Washington State took time out of their busy schedule to perform some community service at the Forgotten Coast Sea Turtle Center in Port St. Joe. They assisted with a variety of projects to aid our resident turtle ambassadors and improve our facility. We extend our greatest thanks to this wonderful group for their service!

05/01/2026

Happy 1st Day of Sea Turtle Nesting Season! We are off to the races on St. Joseph Peninsula with the arrival of our first nest this morning! We're all hoping this rather early nest is a sign of good things to come... We'll be sharing our shores with momma and baby turtles from May through October, and it's up to all of us to do our part: help clear the way at the end of the day by keeping lights off, removing all beach equipment, and filling holes and leveling sand sculptures. Let's make this a safe and successful season for all who visit our beautiful beaches.

02/22/2026

We weathered the weather and had a ball at our 6th Annual Pickleball for Sea Turtles Tournament at Frank Pate Park in Port St. Joe! We send a HUGE THANK YOU to our Players; Referees; Volunteers; Vendors; Sponsors; the City of Port St. Joe; Gulf County, Florida; Yoshi Media; our Tournament Director, Susan Hudlow; and all of our supporters for making this a fun, educational, and successful event. We hope you enjoy these images from our three sunny days of pickleball and turtle fun!
All proceeds from this event help to fund our outreach and education efforts at the Forgotten Coast Sea Turtle Center, on the nesting beach, and beyond...we sincerely appreciate your tremendous support.💚🐢
Plans are already underway for the 7th Annual Pickleball for Sea Turtles Tournament, coming February 2027. Make sure to follow our Tournament page for more event photos and updates: Pickleball for Sea Turtles Tournaments

02/13/2026

Our 6th Annual Pickleball for Sea Turtles Tournament is in full swing at Frank Pate Park, Port St. Joe! The Forgotten Coast Sea Turtle Center, pickleball apparel vendors, hydration specialists, and massage therapists are all on-site, and Bayside Bites is serving up tasty breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Join us today, tomorrow and Monday for a turtley awesome event!
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(Sunday cancelled due to inclement weather.)

02/06/2026

We are looking forward to welcoming players and fans from far and wide to our 6th Annual Pickleball for Sea Turtles Tournament, February 13th through the 16th at Frank Pate Park! To kick things off, please join us for a Shellabration Social at the Tap Root in Port St. Joe on Thursday, February 12th from 5 to 8 p.m. ET!
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11/01/2025

Our 2025 sea turtle nesting season has officially ended, and WHAT A SEASON it was! This year we welcomed 231 loggerhead nests and 5 green nests on our six mile stretch of St. Joseph Peninsula. Drumroll, please, for this year's counts...

5 evaluated green nests produced 394 hatchlings, and 209 evaluated loggerhead nests produced 14,355 hatchlings!

To our hard-working Volunteers for their tireless efforts both on and off the beach, and to our countless supporters and beach-goers who help make this a safe place for our momma and baby sea turtles, THANK YOU!

We look forward to welcoming both our sea turtles and visitors back to our beautiful beaches in 2026!

*All work conducted by authorized personnel under Florida Marine Turtle Permit 094.*

10/23/2025