Sea Turtle Patrol

Each year from May 1 through October 31 in Flagler Beach, sea turtles nest on our beaches and are monitored on a daily basis until they hatch.  The Volusia-FlaglerTurtle Patrol is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of sea turtles. The group patrols 25 miles of beach from May 1st until the end of October, looking for turtle crawls. When we find a fresh crawl, we determine whether it is a nest or false crawl (non-nesting emergence), then we mark the nest of with four stakes and a ribbon, affix a FDEP (Florida Department of Environmental Protection) sign stating that it is a turtle nest and not to disturb it. We also complete a nesting report and plot the crawl on an aerial photo. All nests are monitored on a daily basis until they hatch. Once they hatch, we do a nest evaluation to determine the success of the nest.