Summary: The beaches we visit during the day become turtle turf at night. Thousands of loggerhead sea turtles and smaller numbers of other species lay nests with 100-ish eggs apiece during southwest Florida’s yearly nesting season, May 1-Oct. 31. Melissa Bernhard, Senior Biologist with Mote’s Sea Turtle Conservation & Research Program — a friend to reptiles everywhere — leads local sea turtle conservation efforts with hundreds of trained volunteers who love searching for turtle crawls (tracks) at the crack of dawn. In this episode, Melissa tells Hayley and Joe what she’s learned and done through Mote’s state-permitted efforts, including night-time turtle tagging!
