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Nesting Green Sea Turtles Flock To Central Florida

Photo courtesy The Nature Conservancy.
Photo courtesy The Nature Conservancy.

Green sea turtles are nesting in record numbers in central Florida.

Some 14,000 nests have been counted at the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge in Melbourne Beach, among the most popular nest sites in the world.

Kate Mansfield of the University of Central Florida says it's a good sign of the once-endangered animal's population in the Atlantic Ocean.

"What's fun and crazy is that this season is still not yet over. We're still recording green turtle nests. They tend to nest a little later than the loggerheads."

The 20-mile beach is home to some 30 percent of the state's green sea turtle nests. Researchers also have counted some 9,000 loggerhead nests.

The season ends in the fall.

Amy Green covered the environment for WMFE until 2023. Her work included the 2020 podcast DRAINED.