Last Nest of the Season

Just after sunrise on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Reaserche Reserve (GTMNERR) volunteer Jeff Finnan witnessed one of the quiet closing scenes of coastal wildlife’s annual rhythm: the emergence of the final sea turtle nest of the season. From beneath the sand, the last hatchlings of a green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) nest surfaced and made their instinctive dash toward the Atlantic—an ancient ritual playing out on GTM’s shoreline long before humans walked these beaches. 

Four days later, volunteers Michelle Simonds and Mike Darragh conducted the nest evaluation, carefully digging into the nest by hand to count hatched eggs, unhatched eggs and any hatchlings that remained in the chamber—adding the final chapter to this year’s nesting records. Their work is part of a long-running, dedicated program carried out by GTM staff and a committed network of trained volunteers—a collaboration that safeguards each nest and deepens our understanding of these endangered species year after year. 

This season, GTM’s beach recorded a total of 318 nests: 286 loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and 32 green sea turtle nests. Each one represents a small but meaningful step in the ongoing effort to ensure the survival of these remarkable species.