SEA TURTLE TIPS FOR ALL BEACH VISITORS

  • Keep all outside lights off at night and close window shades to block inside light from shining out.
  • If you find a sea turtle or hatchling, call the GCCA Turtle Patrol at 227-6363. Never touch or disturb a nesting female, nests or emerging hatchlings. Any of these actions are a violation of federal and state laws. Only permittees are allowed to touch or move Sea Turtles.
  • Remove all beach furniture and toys from the beach each night so mother turtles will not become entangled in them.
  • Keep dogs on leashes as required by Gulf County's leash ordinance.
  • Please call the Gulf County Sheriff's Office immediately at 227-1115 if you see
    • A vehicle on the beach at night north of Stump Hole.
    • A vehicle landward of the "buffer" signs on the beach
    • A vehicle driving over dunes or vegetation
  • Avoid unnecessary light, noise and movement on the beach at night. If walking on the beach at night, please cover your flashlight beam with red cellophane. If you should encounter a mother turtle nesting or babies hatching, please stay at least 5 feet away and out of its path to the water.
  • Do not light fires and set off fireworks on nesting beaches at night.
  • Avoid walking on turtle tracks or dunes where nests occur.

Beach cleanup

During the annual beach cleanup, volunteers regularly find cigarette butts, food containers, beverage bottles, plastic utensils. Do your bit to keep our beaches beautiful!

Stay off the dunes

Walking on the dunes damages the sea oats and other plants that hold the sand in place. Use walkovers to get to the beach.

Join us

  • Membership
  • Nest Adoption
  • You can support local marine turtle conservation by buying a Sea Turtle Specialty Tag offered by the Florida Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles, available at your local tax collector's office.
  • Volunteering: Beach monitoring requires time but you get the chance to see turtles nesting and hatching.

Remember, less than 1 sea turtle out of l000 hatchlings survive to adulthood. Step forward and make a difference.

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