2020 Turtle Watch Information:
Starting June 22th, Reservations are open for July’s Public Turtle Watch Program.
Sebastian Inlet State Park is excited to announce our 2020 ranger guided Public Sea Turtle Watch Program. These educational turtle watches offer the public the possibility to witness a loggerhead sea turtle lay her eggs, cover and disguise her nest, crawl down the beach and swim away into the Atlantic Ocean. Turtle Watch Programs are available four nights a week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, during the month of July. The program starts at 9 PM and may last until 1 AM. Participants may walk up to three miles in soft sand.
Reservations are required for turtle watches. All of Sebastian Inlet State Park’s Turtle Watch reservations can be made online by clicking http://www.fsispturtlewalk.org/ There is a $10.00 donation per person to reserve a space for a park ranger guided turtle watch.
Sebastian Inlet Sea Turtle Watch Program 2020 Guidelines
- Participants must wear a mask during the entire program. This includes inside the museum and on the beach during the turtle watch; masks will not be provided by the park.
- 8 participants per Turtle Watch.
- Age limit over 7
- Program is offered 4 days a week during the month of July. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
- Participants will be required to attend an interpretive program on marine turtle biology and conservations issues located at the Fishing Museum.
- Group must stay together and practice social distancing during the entire watch.
- Participants must be able to walk up to three miles on the beach.
- Conditions may be buggy; insect repellant is recommended.
- Participants must provide their own transportation to the beach from the Fishing Museum.
- Flash photography is prohibited / participants with infrared cameras may film or photograph the egg deposition or the turtle retuning to the water.
- Touching marine turtles and handling marine turtle eggs is prohibited.
- Participants may not use flashlights.
- Participants may not walk on the turtle’s crawl.
Only one nesting loggerhead turtle will be observed. If a turtle is not found by the scouts by 11 pm the program is over.
2019 Turtle Watch
A nesting Loggerhead sea turtle was observed on 38 of the 44 turtle watches, making an average on turtle seen on 86.6% of the turtle watches. We had 667 guests attended our 2019 turtle watch program.
Our Sebastian Inlet State Park Turtle Scout volunteers made this year’s turtle watches a success! We are always looking for volunteers. For information e-mail Adrienne.Finegan@FloridaDep.gov
Sea Turtle Nesting Statistics for Sebastian Inlet State Park’s three miles of beach:
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Loggerhead nests 855 976 903 699 876
Green nests 351 50 715 40 682
Leatherback nests 6 5 3 8 3
Kemp Ridley 0 0 0 1 0
