Sea turtle hatchlings face many threats in all stages of their life: in the nest, on the beach during their journey toward the water and in their marine habitat. Only about one in 1,000 sea turtle hatchlings will make it to adulthood, but Alabama has ongoing conservation efforts to help the endangered species survive. Sea turtles are important because they contribute to the environment by keeping seagrass beds healthy, maintaining healthy coral reefs and they keep populations of jellyfish and crustations in check.

Alabama’s sea turtle nesting and hatching season runs from May through October. According to the Alabama Coastal Foundation (ACF), just as endangered sea turtles make their way to the white-sand beaches of Alabama’s shoreline to nest each year, hundreds of volunteers gear up for another season of Share the Beach program activities. The objectives of the program are to mitigate human-related impacts to sea turtles, to monitor sea turtle nests and hatchlings on the Alabama gulf coast and to promote the conservation of sea turtles through public outreach. The program follows protocols set forth by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the federal endangered species recovery permit.

Volunteers of the Share the Beach program help protect the endangered sea turtles by patrolling the beach to ensure it is safely flat (no sandcastles, holes, beach gear or trash) for turtles to traverse, conducting late-night nest observations, educating the public and school groups on issues such as artificial light pollution and other tasks.

“We’re proud to announce that Bon Secour National Wildlife Reserve, just one arm of Share the Beach, had 1,513 hatchlings make it to the Gulf to begin their life’s journey. We had two species of sea turtles use Alabama beaches as nesting sites this year, the loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and the green (Chelonia mydas). Green sea turtles are somewhat rare for this area,” says Sara Johnson, director of Share the Beach. “Green sea turtles tend to stay more in Florida where there is more seagrass and the water is less cloudy.”

In October, Johnson estimated that when all nests had hatched and turtles were counted, the total number of hatchlings would be close to 4,000 from 74 nests, for the entire Alabama coastline. “That’s a big comeback from recent years,” she said.

Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge recently announced, “Our 2022 sea turtle season has come to an end. It’s been a very successful season and we’d like to thank our volunteers with Share the Beach for all their hard work and YOU, for your continuous support and respect this season!”

Note: All sea turtle footage was obtained with approval from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service under conditions not harmful to these or other sea turtles.