If you’re a newbie to South Florida, all the sea turtle signage you’ll see along Ocean Boulevard are laws, not just a friendly heads up.
Residents here take sea turtles and their nesting season seriously starting March 1 through Oct. 31. The height of the season is July and August, and you can even monitor how many nests are online. That’s also why nests are taped off to protect their eggs on local beaches. Their radar returns them year after year to the same spot.
Florida considers sea turtles an endangered species, and the state not only protects them, but has strict laws on conservation, research and construction: Marine Turtle Protection
The state also has model lighting ordinances to ensure condos and other buildings along the ocean aren’t too bright, attracting hatchlings to run in the wrong direction.
Each municipality is expected to comply. Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Highland Beach, Jupiter Island, Palm Beach and Palm Beach County each have their own ordinance with a code enforcement contact: Sea Turtle Protection Ordinances
Local nature centers sell tickets to watch sea turtles build nests late at night, and their hatchlings sprint into the ocean. In Boca, the city’s Gumbo Limbo Nature Center across from the beach is the go-to place to see sea turtles in action. “We monitor over 1,000 nests a year within a five-mile span of beaches. We rescue sick and injured sea turtles. We release more than 9,000 stranded sea turtle hatchlings each nesting season,” according to the center. They also schedule monthly sea turtle talks and offer “adoptions” of their three resident sea turtles. Later in the season, the center will post turtle walks and hatchling releases tickets you can buy online: Turtle Walk & Hatchling Release Programs
Delray Beach has an extensive sea turtle conservation program with advice like move chairs and cabanas to the foot of the dunes each night “to ensure sea turtles can easily navigate along the beach.”
If you get in the swim once you’re here, there’s a Helping Sea Turtles Survive license plate for your car.
