South Walton Turtle Watch: Turtle Season Begins on May 1st

South Walton Turtle Watch (SWTW) is a group of local volunteers, led by Sharon Maxwell. They work together with U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to track, mark, monitor and evaluate sea turtle nests along our beautiful beaches of South Walton.

The group monitors adult sea turtles, keeping track of a wide variety of statistics, including the species that crawl out of the water. They document the width of the track to get an idea of the size of the turtle, and they determine if there is really a nest or if it is just a false crawl. (A “false crawl” is when a turtle comes up onto the beach, but then goes back into the water without laying eggs.) After a nest hatches, the group determines the success rate of the nest.

Endangered and threatened sea turtles nest on our beaches from May to October.