Surprising Facts About Sea Turtles

It is the beginning of sea turtle nesting season on the Space Coast in Florida. There are four kinds of sea turtles that make the annual pilgrimage to nest here: Loggerhead, Leatherback, Green and occasionally Kemps Ridley turtles. The last three are considered endangered. The Loggerhead is now considered threatened in Florida.

Leatherback turtles, the largest, can be up to 5 feet long and more than 500 pounds. They migrate up to 3,700 miles to breed.
Along the Florida coast, sea turtles annually make between 40,000 and 84,000 nests. Nearly 90 percent of sea turtle nesting in the U.S. occurs in Florida from March through October of each year.
Hatchlings tend to emerge from their nests in the dark and use the moonlight’s reflection on the crashing waves to guide their return. Too much light pollution from development can confuse hatchlings and cause them to walk away from the ocean.
It’s the temperature that determines the sex of the hatchlings. Warmer temperatures in the nest will result in female turtles, whereas colder temperatures produce males. There are, in fact more female turtles hatching as a result of warmer temperatures. Turtles take 25 years to reach sexual maturity, so the outcome is not yet known. It is likely that the fewer males will not be able to keep up with fertilizing all those females.
Sea turtles can live 40 to 60 years or more.