Sea Turtles are special neighbors to the Hammock Dunes seaside each year from May to October. Most are loggerheads, as Florida's East Atlantic Coast ranks as one of the largest nesting sites for this threatened species. Although the stretch of beach in our area has had nests each season over the years, you may not always see the activity. During nesting, females come ashore usually in the late evening and night-time hours laying up to 80 to 150 eggs and then return to the ocean waters before daylight. The female loggerheads crawl up the beach to an area above the high tide line and using her rear flippers, she digs a chamber and deposits eggs. She will then gently cover the eggs with sand before returning to the sea. Only a small percentage of the hatchings will survive to maturity. Volunteer efforts to keep the hatchling numbers as high as possible routinely monitor nests. Several days after the nests hatch they will be opened and live turtles will be released to the ocean. Most sea turtles will return to the approximate place where they were born and will travel from 1,000 to 3,500 miles. That is quite a bit of traveling since sea turtles' lifespan can be 75-100 years.
The Hammock Dunes Community is a good neighbor to these sea turtles and beachfront properties follow special lighting requirements to help the nesting processes be as successful as possible.
