Turtle Patrol on Pensacola Beach

The day started out calmly enough, but only for the first half hour. Pensacola Beach is already a zoo as preparations are underway for Blue Angels Weekend.



The Coast Guard has sailed into town...



Even the sharks have arrived on the beach. This impressive castle shows some shark attack posturing. That tell-tale back and forth swish of the tail is classic pre-attack motion.



The one bad thing, from a turtle girl's perspective, is all the junk on the beach. Cabanas and tents are everywhere!



Some people lowered their cabanas -- I'm not sure if they think that's better for the wildlife, or more wind resistant or what.



This chair is on the beach a lot. Apparently, the owner is very willing to share, but unaware of the need to clear the beach at night.



Does anyone know the owner? I'm sure they wouldn't leave it out there if they knew it was a potential hazard for nesting sea turtles and their emerging hatchlings. There are lots of simple things we can all do to help sea turtles including using sea turtle friendly lights, not releasing helium filled balloons, not using plastic grocery bags and not leaving our beach gear on the shore at night.



For more information on sea turtles and how you can help them, click here. For a true story of how one sea turtle overcame all the obstacles in her nesting attempts (and she faced many, from swimming pools to cactus patches!), check out Wrong Way Peach Fuzz



I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Blue Angels Weekend!

A Day at the Beach

The day started before the sun, with an early morning turtle run on Pensacola Beach.



Sunrise was a little obscured by buildings and sand fencing. Maybe I should start doing the eastern portion of the beach first for a clearer view.



There were animals on the beach this morning. Daniel built this lovely alligator



and some beach visitors made a very handsome octopus as well.



There was a nice Gulf front villa too.



There was a lot of gear on the beach too. This can keep turtles from nesting, trap or injure nesting females and trap hatchlings on their race to the sea.



Please think twice before leaving your cabanas, chairs and floats out over night. I know it's easier, but it's bad for the turtles, and risky. Your stuff may be tossed by the wind, hit by an emergency vehicle on the beach or claimed by the tides.



There were no turtles though. Happily, Jay had one on Perdido Key...



Nest number 26 was moved as well. I really hope we don't have to move the next ten so our numbers are better!