Sea turtle facts
Several species of sea turtles use our beautiful beaches to nest their eggs.
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All of our visiting turtles are endangered.
Clean, Dark, & Flat
Clean
Before you leave the beach each day, pick up all your trash and bring back all your items. Items left overnight may be thrown away by Code Compliance.
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If a sea turtle encounters debris on the beach, she will give up and lay her eggs in the water, where they won't survive.
Dark
Sea turtles use the moon to find their way, use the red flashlights we provide to walk the beaches at night.
Flat
Before you leave the beach each day, knock down your sandcastles and fill in your holes. Our sand is extremely soft and unstable. Because of this, City of Destin has a hole ordinance that holes cannot be larger than 3ft by 3ft and 2ft deep.
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Baby sea turtles (hatchlings) will fall in holes/trenches - leaving them vulnerable to birds.
See A turtle nesting or hatchling?
Lucky you!
It is extremely important to remember the following:
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1. Never touch, pick up, or assist them in any way. It is illegal.
2. Turn off all lights and camera flashes. Lights can disorient/blind them. They use the moon light to find their way back to the water and artificial lights confuse them. Use the turtle safe red flashlights we've provided to walk the beach at night.
3. Give nesting turtles space and quiet so they can focus on digging their nest and laying their eggs. Do not surround her or get in her path. Noise, lights, and movement can cause a turtle to abandon her nesting attempt.
"leave no trace"
the sea turtles that visit our beaches
kemp's ridley
Kemp’s Ridley is the rarest and most critically endangered sea turtle species in the world, with fewer than a thousand nesting females remaining on Earth.
loggerhead
This species is classified as a vulnerable, with an estimated 60,000 nesting females left in the wild. A female can travel up to 7,500 miles to lay her eggs on the same beaches she hatched from.
green sea turtle
Green sea turtles are named for their layer of green fat that lies under their shell. Scientists believe this unusual colored fat is the result of their veggie diet – unlike most other sea turtles, the green sea turtle eats marine plants such as seaweed and sea grass. The Green Sea Turtle is listed as endangered.
Leatherback
Leatherbacks are the world's larges sea turtle - weighing almost 2,000 lbs! They are named because their shell isn't hard and instead has a leathery shell that's soft and flexible. This species has been around for 100 million years - they lived among dinosaurs! Today, however, they are critically endangered.