July 19 (Thursday): Image #200


I went for a ride today at the beach, and walked out on the sand as the sun was going down. Just down from the parking lot, I noticed this sea turtle nest. In St. John's county, there are currently 38 identified sea turtle nests.
This is a nest of the Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) Sea Turtle. From April -September, the females come ashore at night and dig the "nest hole" with their hind flippers. Then they fill it with anywhere from 50-175 eggs, and leave. Several weeks later, the young turtles dig themselves out (interesting note--all the young ones leave at once. Never one at a time) and march to the sea. In another fascinating note, no matter where they travel, they always return home to their ancestral beach when it's time for them to breed and lay eggs.

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