Photo by Greg C. Truax for AliveTampaBay.com
Nests by female sea turtles are decorating Pass-a-Grille Beach. The sea turtles, mainly loggerheads, come ashore in the dark and lay up to 150 eggs after using their flippers to dig a hole in the sand. Silver-dollar-sized hatchlings emerge at night from their nest after a gestation period of 50 to 60 days and follow the moonlight to the Gulf. Volunteers with Sea Turtle Trackers, who daily patrol St. Pete Beach and Shell Island, mark the nests they locate with stakes and yellow warning tape. Nesting season officially ends on Oct. 31.
For more about turtle nesting, see our story from March 13 by Krista Lyons:
Turtle Talk: Sea Turtles Heading to Suncoast Beaches