10/07/2026
Do sea turtles nest in the bay?! Not typically, but do we have a story for you! 🐢📢
Back in July, we got a call about a sea turtle on someone’s private beach up in Cinco Bayou. Naturally, we figured they were confusing it with another type of turtle. But, after we got photos and videos of the turtle, we clearly saw that it was a green sea turtle nesting on their beach! Team members went out the next morning to confirm and, sure enough, this lucky family, the Walczak’s, were parents to a green sea turtle nest!
To reduce the amount of disturbance to the nest and to respect the unique situation of it, the nest stayed in place and was marked off for protection. The Walczak family monitored the nest daily for us while team members regularly checked on it as well. Unfortunately, Tropical Storm Bertha had a huge impact on this nest as she did most of our other nests. During the storm, the water levels rose and filled the nest with water. The nest did not end up hatching and was evaluated after 80 days of incubation. 125 eggs were laid in the nest.
This was a very rare and unexpected event, but it shows us that sea turtles can stray from the norm. We want to thank the Walczak family for protecting and keeping a very close eye on this nest for us and allowing us access to their property for assessments. They were so cooperative and were the best green sea turtle nest parents we could have asked for!
If you ever come across a sea turtle on the beach (Gulf side or not), be like the Walczak’s and report it to our Sea Turtle Hotline ☎️ 850-461-2885
(The turtle did crawl through some rope that was out on the beach but it did not impact her nesting and was safely removed before she went back into the water)
