ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. — It’s officially hatching season for sea turtles up and down Florida’s Atlantic coast and the risks for hatchlings are high.
“There’s several challenges,” Kevin Brown with Beaches Sea Turtle Patrol told Action News Jax Friday. “You’ve got lights, you’ve got people, you got storm surge, you’ve got predation from foxes and coyotes and raccoons.”
Now, the Atlantic Beach Police Department and Beaches Sea Turtle Patrol are warning about another danger to our coastline’s wildlife: unleashed pets. An unleashed dog reportedly killed 23 hatchlings as they left their nest this week.
Brown told Action News Jax the incident serves as a devastating reminder of one of the many preventable risks to our beach wildlife.
“I don’t see this happening when the owner is with them, it’s when they’re unassisted,” Brown explained. “We don’t mean for that to happen, I get it, but we just need to be cautious, especially if you’ve got a nest out in front of your oceanfront property.”
According to Atlantic Beach ordinance, dogs must be under their owner’s control at all times. The only time dogs are permitted to be unleashed is when they and the owner are both swimming in the ocean. The leash must go back on before the dog returns to the beach.
Brown is now reminding everybody of the need to do their part to preserve the creatures that call Jacksonville’s coastlines home.
“Doing things like turning lights off, keeping your pets secured, especially during the emergence and hatching part of the season,” Brown said. “Those guys have a gauntlet to go through anyway. Let’s give them a fightin’ chance.”
Sea turtle nesting and hatching season runs all the way until October 1st.
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