Look out for the sea turtles—nesting season is officially underway

It’s the beginning of May—and while you’d be right to think of this month as Asian Pacific Islanders Heritage Month or Jewish Heritage Month, it’s also the beginning of Sea Turtle Nesting season on Alabama’s beaches.

We spoke with the crew at Share the Beach, who told us everything we can do to make sure the sea turtles have a calm, healthy beach to lay their eggs.

Sea Turtle Nesting Season

Sea Turtles come up out of the Gulf in May to make their nests on our beaches—and they go pretty far up the beach to do so! Momma Turtle doesn’t want her eggs to be washed out by the tide, so she scoots up past the wrack line (where the high tide leaves some seashells + kelp behind) to make her nest.

That’s where the folks at Share the Beach come in—they track and monitor sea turtle activity on Alabama’s beaches to make sure Momma Turtles successfully make nests and baby turtles can get back to the Gulf.

Calm, dark, flat

Sea turtles build nests at night, using moonlight to guide them up the beach. That’s why it’s important to turn off the lights outside your beach house at night—turtles can mistake them for the moon, make a wrong turn and end up nesting too close to the water.

Turtles are pretty close to the ground, too. Even the tiniest of sand shovels can trip them up. Make sure you pick up everything off the beach—leaving only your footprints! Even the sand can pose a hazard, a sandcastle is easily taller than your average sea turtle—so knocking down that time-consuming sandcastle is a must.

If you spot a turtle—or a nest—you’ll want to call the sea turtle hotline immediately at 1-866-SEA-TURTLE (1-866-732-8878).

Explore more ways to help protect sea turtles.

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