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Gulf Shores Orange Beach

Download the Alabama Sea Turtle Conservation Manual

Turtle Eggs
Unhatched sea turtle eggs
Photo courtesy Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge.


Nesting season begins in May and that's when we begin to see females coming ashore to lay their eggs. They lay an average of 100 eggs per nest. The incubation period is from 55 to 70 days.


Alabama's coastline is divided into several areas which are patrolled by Share the Beach volunteers. These volunteers devote their time to searching for new nests, marking the nests and protecting the nests and hatchlings from natural and, more likely, human-related dangers.


In 2005, thirty-seven loggerhead (Caretta caretta) nests and one possibly Kemps Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) were identified along the coast. Throughout the summer, the coast was impacted by four named storms which affected the sea turtle nests by inundating them with water, covering them with large amounts of sand, or washing them away.


In the 2006 season, Forty-five loggerhead (Caretta caretta) nests and one Kemps Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) were identified from Dauphin Island (Mobile County) east to Alabama Point (Baldwin County) near the Florida state line. Only four nests were lost due to Tropical Storm Alberto and a non-tropical storm in mid-October.  Many of the nests were adopted through the Adopt-A-Nest program, which provided the funds needed to purchase a new Polaris ATV.  It is estimated that 3,603 hatchling safely made it into the Gulf of Mexico.


In the 2007 season, there were fifty-four loggerhead (Caretta caretta) nests and one Kemps Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii). Share the Beach had an outstanding year along the Alabama Gulf Coast.  Many of the nests were adopted through the Adopt-A-Nest program, which provided the funds needed to help Friends of Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge purchase a new supplies for marking and monitoring nests.  Through the contributions made by our dedicated volunteers, it is estimated that 3465 hatchling safely made it into the Gulf of Mexico.


In the 2008 season, with the help of dedicated volunteers, Share the Beach had an average year along the Alabama Gulf Coast.  Seventy-eight loggerhead (Caretta caretta) nests and one Kemps Ridley (Lepidochelys kempii) were identified.  Through the contributions made by our dedicated volunteers, it is estimated that 3520 hatchling safely made it into the Gulf of Mexico.


In 2009, Share the Beach volunteers discovered sixty-four loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) nests and two Kemps Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) nests along the Alabama Gulf Coast. Through the contributions made by our dedicated volunteers, it is estimated that 4,513 hatchlings safely made it to the Gulf of Mexico.

In 2010, Share the Beach volunteers had to work extra hart to protect nesting turtles and their hatchlings. On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon (MC-252) Incident occurred. Oil began leaking into the Gulf of Mexico approximately 50 miles south of Louisiana. Due to the oil that began to wash onto Alabama beaches, USFWS developed new criteria for monitoring sea turtle nests. With the start of nighttime operations, turtle nest surveys were conducted in front of night clean-up crews. Forty-one loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) nests and two Kemps Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) nests were located. As hatchling season approached, USFWS determined that it was too dangerous for the hatchlings to be released into the Gulf until more of the oil was cleaned up. Therefore, as the nests matured, the eggs were transported to Cape Canaveral, Florida with the help of Fedex. Sixteen nests were moved to Cape Canaveral with an estimated 1,261 hatchlings being released into the Atlantic Ocean. Three nests were released off the Florida Panhandle and twenty-four were allowed to hatch from Alabama?s beaches. Approximately 1,365 hatchlings entered the Gulf of Mexico. For 2010, a grand total of 2,626 hatchlings were released.


From 2003 – 2010 an estimated 24,529 hatchlings safely entered into the Gulf of Mexico.


If you are visiting the beach and see signs of a new nest (a large "crawl line" to and from the water), or vandalism to a nest, please call 965-6378 or 1-866-SEA TURTLE to report it.


How Are They Doing? - Seasonal Statistics


For 2011, check the totals below to see the latest information on this season's activity.


AlabamaPoint - I


ID

Date Found

# Eggs

1st Emergence

# to water

# Hatched

Survival %

I-1

6/26/2011

95

8/18/2011

88

88

94

I-2

7/10/2011

115

9/30/2011

112

112

97

I-3

7/10/2011

76

9/3/2011

67

67

88

I-4

7/13/2011

132

9/5/2011

119

118

90

I-5

7/18/2011

84

9/12/2011

62

62

74


Dauphin Island - J


ID

Date Found

# Eggs

1st Emergence

# to water

# Hatched

Survival %

J-1

6/4/2011

138

J-2

6/15/2011

85

J-3

6/16/2011

J-4

6/24/2011

100


East Beach - E


ID

Date Found

# Eggs

1st Emergence

# to water

# Hatched

Survival %

E-1

7/3/2011

81

E-2

7/9/2011

154


Fort Morgan - A


ID

Date Found

# Eggs

1st Emergence

# to water

# Hatched

Survival %

A-1

5/20/2011

96

72

72

75

A-2

5/24/2011

99

7/22/2011

90

90

91

A-3

5/24/2011

152

7/21/2011

123

123

91

A-4

5/24/2011

105

7/22/2011

88

88

84

A-5

5/26/2011

117

7/22/2011

111

111

95

A-6

5/27/2011

102

A-7

6/7/2011

119

8/7/2011

A-8

6/7/2011

119

8/2/2011

84

84

71

A-9

6/8/2011

110

8/2/2011

A-10

6/9/2011

86

0

0

0

A-11

6/11/2011

117

8/1/2011

A-12

6/11/2011

125

A-13

6/11/2011

144

8/4/2011

A-14

6/13/2011

101

8/7/2011

98

98

97

A-15

6/20/2011

114

8/15/2011

110

110

96.5

A-16

6/22/2011

118

8/13/2011

112

112

95

A-17

6/23/2011

86

82

82

95

A-18

6/23/2011

102

8/17/2011

95

95

93

A-19

6/23/2011

108

93

96

86

A-20

6/26/2011

A-21

6/27/2011

134

8/15/2011

126

130

96

A-22

6/30/2011

107

8/26/2011

101

104

94

A-23

7/1/2011

75

68

68

91

A-24

7/5/2011

A-25

7/7/2011

108

A-26

7/7/2011

102

9/1/2011

A-27

7/8/2011

A-28

7/9/2011

111

A-29

7/11/2011

132

A-30

7/15/2011

A-31

7/15/2011

A-32

7/21/2011

101

9/12/2011

A-33

7/22/2011

90

A-34

7/22/2011

58

A-35

7/23/2011

A-37

7/31/2011

A-38

7/31/2011

104

A-39

8/5/2011

A-40

8/5/2011

94

A-41

8/26/2011

110

0

0

0


Gulf State Park - G


ID

Date Found

# Eggs

1st Emergence

# to water

# Hatched

Survival %

G-5

9/16/2011

72

G-1

6/6/2011

123

8/2/2011

G-2

6/9/2011

118

8/1/2011

111

G-3

6/27/2011

101

8/24/2011

G-4

7/3/2011

81


Laguna Key - B


ID

Date Found

# Eggs

1st Emergence

# to water

# Hatched

Survival %

B-1

5/25/2011

125

7/21/2011

113

115

90.4

B-2

5/27/2011

110

7/22/2011

96

103

87

B-3

6/7/2011

105

8/3/2011

99

100

95

B-4

6/11/2011

113

8/6/2011

102

102

90

B-5

6/14/2011

75

8/12/2011

17

17

23

B-6

6/15/2011

100

8/12/2011

92

92

92

B-7

7/5/2011

118

8/27/2011

118

118

98.3

B-8

7/7/2011

94

8/29/2011

91

91

96.8

B-9

7/13/2011

120

B-10

7/16/2011

117

9/6/2011

92

94

78.6

B-11

7/22/2011

98

9/12/2011

92

92

93.8

B-12

8/7/2011

90

B-13

8/10/2011

107


Orange Beach - H


ID

Date Found

# Eggs

1st Emergence

# to water

# Hatched

Survival %

H-1

5/26/2011

118

7/24/2011

115

115

97

H-2

6/25/2011

129

8/16/2011

113

113

88

H-3

7/1/2011

145

8/26/2011

133

133

92

H-4

7/12/2011

138

9/4/2011

110

110

80

H-5

7/15/2011

90

9/11/2011

86

87

96

H-6

8/11/2011

87

10/15/2011

47

47

54


West Beach II - C


ID

Date Found

# Eggs

1st Emergence

# to water

# Hatched

Survival %

C-3

C-1

6/11/2011

C-2

6/12/2011

110

0

0

0

C-4

7/21/2011

118

9/18/2011

78