As we near the end of sea turtle season, the number of nests incubating on the beach continue to dwindle, with only five nests yet to hatch. Although the season isn’t over quite yet, we are confident that it will continue to be a productive season, as 46,726 hatchlings have already emerged to date. Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) nests have experienced an especially high hatch rate of 74.5 percent, with 1,581 hatchlings of this less common species emerging so far this year and three nests still remaining.

While our sea turtle nests will continue to incubate into November, Sept. 30 marked the official last day of nesting season, signifying the end of the required monitoring for both the Captiva Island Beach Renourishment Project and the Causeway Island Stabilization Project. There have been 5,395 hatchlings from relocated nests to date. Seven volunteers conducted 125 surveys on the Causeway Islands to ensure there was no sea turtle nesting activity leading up to the project start date and collected an impressive 359 gallons of trash in the process! 

Volunteer Kayla Wooldridge collected 250 gallons of trash on her own on the causeway!