Sad news for turtle nesting as loggerhead unable to find place to lay her eggs

[Walton Outdoors]

A South Walton Turtle Watch volunteer marked off with flags where loggerhead turtle attempted to nest.​

Sad news for turtle nesting as loggerhead
unable to find place to lay her eggs

South Walton Turtle Watch volunteers continue to struggle to find turtle nest success in South Walton. These photos were taken by volunteers June 17. The above photo shows where a loggerhead turtle attempted to nest but was unable due to obstructions left on the beach. No one knows for sure why she gave up, but it appears the tracks spell out the message. The photo below shows the abundance of items left overnight along the beaches in Miramar Beach. Without a clear path to a nesting area beyond the high tide line, turtles will simply give up and go back to the Gulf. As of June 17, there has been 11 successful nests laid.

 

[sunspotbaby]

All the beaches should be made to follow the same guidelines as the State Parks. I'll bet they don't have this problem. This is a no-brainer to me.

 

[kathydwells]

This breaks my heart. If I was a Turtle Watch Volunteer, I would probably be in jail right now, because if I had come up on this and saw the false crawl, I would have snapped for sure, and all that SH!T that you see in those pictures would be nothing but scraps left by the TDC Trash Cans. Yes, people I would have taken the law into my own hands and I would have dealt with the consequences later. So there......

 

[Miss Kitty]

This breaks my heart. If I was a Turtle Watch Volunteer, I would probably be in jail right now, because if I had come up on this and saw the false crawl, I would have snapped for sure, and all that SH!T that you see in those pictures would be nothing but scraps left by the TDC Trash Cans. Yes, people I would have taken the law into my own hands and I would have dealt with the consequences later. So there......

I'd bail you out.

These pics make my blood boil.

 

[kkddbb]

Im sick of this ****! Im not for taking matters into my hands because it only causes chaos, but when it comes to this I do. And if the gov isnt going to than I will. Perhaps we should all get together and hit the beaches? And maybe we should all put a petition together and send it to our elected officials that are looking out for the tourist more than the local resident? Ill take a spin through grayton like i do daily only this evening Im going to make a few tents part of my bumper and I wont be apologetic about it. Tourists beware, the turtle army is coming..

 

[SHELLY]

There's no way that this could have been prevented...it's just something I've now come to accept will be the normal situation going forward.

.

 

[Lynnie]

I would move the items left to the trash area.
That's where it belongs.

 

[Dia]

I would move the items left to the trash area.
That's where it belongs.

Is this considered illegal? It's not destruction of property - just moving it. Anyone know?

 

[wrobert]

Is this considered illegal? It's not destruction of property - just moving it. Anyone know?

I doubt you would get a judge to sign a warrant for someone caught piling everything together in one place.

 

[Lynnie]

Nor would I wait until the next morning. The turtles nest and hatch by lunar cycles......moving the items the night before would offer more protection for the turtles. Not pitch dark, as I'm sure someone will bring this up, but perhaps just before dark. Not saying this is the right, wrong or indifferent way......just what I would do.