Sea Turtle Nesting on Naples Florida Beaches has long been important for the loggerhead sea turtle. Loggerhead sea turtles nesting on Naples Florida beaches emerge from the Gulf of Mexico each summer (May 1 to August 31). Females crawl from the Gulf late at night to lay their nests. Loggerheads deposit, on average, 100 ping pong ball sized eggs in each nest. They usually lay 2 to 3 nests per season on a 2-3 year cycle. The eggs begin to hatch after about 60 days. As the sand begin to cool (usually late evening) sea turtle nesting on Naples, Florida beaches begins by the hatchlings scratching their way out of the nest and emerging as a group. As the young turtles exit the nest they instinctually seek the Gulf by looking for natural light reflecting off the water.
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Upon reaching the water, the hatchlings begin their journey to the Atlantic Ocean. The first days of their lives are spent swimming directly offshore. Once there, the (tiny loggerheads) crawl into mats of drifting algae called sargassum. They spend the first few years of their lives passively drifting on their oceanic rafts feeding on almost anything they can catch in the sargassum. After a few years, the juvenile loggerhead turtles leave their protective nursery and move inshore where they spend the rest of their pre-adult lives. At the age of 12 - 30, adult, female, loggerhead sea turtles return to the beach of their birth to lay nests of their own. Very few sea turtles survive to this point. Estimates predict that about one in a thousand hatchlings survive to adulthood. This year there has been more than usual sea turtle nesting on Naples, Florida beaches.
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