The walkway to my favorite beach cuts you through a section of Sea Grape. I love the coolness of these trails. The ground underneath littered with old leaves, the insects hunkered down in the leaf litter doing their jobs; it all makes the place otherworldly. Often I pause in these spots and appreciate the shade and the way that the light casts shadows on the floor.
This is the view once you walk out on the boardwalk. The ocean is just like what you imagine from CSI: Miami, aqua-blue and stunning to behold. I come from the land of salt marshes and the turbidity is so high you can't see your toes in ankle-deep water. It's somewhat unnerving to look down in 6 feet of water and see the bottom. Sometimes I would rather not know what's swimming around me. I'm a little bit of a chicken when it comes to the ocean. I love living by the ocean for its ever present breezes, the sound of the waves crashing, and the salt spray in the air but I don't always love swimming in it, at least not alone.
It's sea turtle nesting season here in Palm Beach County. The beach is littered with ATV tracks from the nightly surveys. South Florida holds some of the prime nesting sites in the world for sea turtles. We have Green, Loggerhead, and Leatherbacks nesting here. I would give a pretty penny to see one of those massive Leatherbacks to climb on shore and lay her eggs. Once again I'm scared off by fright of hearing too many stories of dangerous people lurking on the beaches after dark. What I need are a couple of bodyguards to escort me down to the beach in the night hours. When I lived on Jekyll I was very privileged to not only see a Loggerhead nest but also see one hatch (yes, only one, it was the straggler of the group).
The sign below shows you the recent count numbers. By the end of the day the numbers were updated to reflect 5 Loggerhead nests and 4 more Leatherback nests. Maybe I need to find those bodyguards sooner than later with numbers like that. Last year in Florida Loggerhead nesting numbers were down by 4,692. This is certainly is an ominous sign for the future of this species. If you haven’t had the chance to see these magnificent creatures, I invite you to Florida to see them nesting on our beaches. I hate to say this but come before they’re gone.
If you visit the Juno area definitely stop by the Loggerhead Marinelife Center. They have a new building and are doing great work with rehabbing injured sea turtles that are stranded on the local coastline. The best part for families, the center is free and they always have a variety of turtles in their rehab tanks. Also they do structured night walks during nesting season and turtle releases during the day.
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