The Central Florida coast line from Melbourne Beach and stretching 20 miles north, is the most important nesting area for turtles in the western hemisphere and the ssecond most important in the entire world. Twenty-five (25) percent of all loggerhead sea turtle nests in the United States occur in this area. Densities of 1,000 nests per mile have been recorded.

The loggerhead turtle is a threatened species and is protected. The laying season starts in April and almost every night new tracks and nests are observed. They lay around 100to 126 eggs in a nest. The incubation period is 60 days, and the baby turtles make their way across the beach to the ocean.

Size: 32 to 41inches long.

Weight: Up to 350 pounds.

The turtle in the picture is a female after laying her eggs and while on the way back to the ocean. The picture was taken about 200 feet north of our beach crossover.

We never did see the baby turtles from that nest, but there were plenty of others. The unusual thing with this one was that she cam in late afternoon, around 5:00 PM while it was still light out. They normally come after dark. Actually, the turtles return to the spot on the beach where they were born. We also had a nest of baby turtles open up one night around 6:30 p.m. They were leatherback turtles and about twice the size of the loggerhead babies. There were probably 10 nests on our 100 feet of beach this year.