Carrabelle Beach Turtle Activity

Last week, Carrabelle Beach saw its first sea turtle activity of the season. Two Loggerhead crawls were reported to Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve's stewardship team, and we went out to assess them right away. We determined one was a false crawl, and one was a nest. Sea turtle nesting activity on Carrabelle Beach is rare. In 2024 there was no activity recorded on this beach, in 2023 there were two nests and five false crawls, and in 2022 there were four nests. Turtles are much more likely to nest on the lengthy barrier islands nearby than this bay beach, so it is exciting when we do see activity here.

Carrabelle Beach is regularly monitored for turtle nesting activity by two permitted volunteers. The stewardship crew is responsible for any nesting that occurs on both Little St. George Island and Carrabelle Beach — a lot of ground to cover! We could not monitor all of that beach without our dedicated volunteers!