The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of nesting sea turtles in the state of Florida along with information on nesting characteristics, life histories, species identification, and distribution for loggerhead, green and leatherback turtles. There are seven species of sea turtles, which fall into two families. Six species are in the family Cheloniidae, or hard-shelled sea turtles:. The flatback turtle is found only in Australia.
The other five species of hard-shelled sea turtles do occur in Florida waters, but only the loggerhead and green turtles routinely nest on Florida beaches.
The second family of sea turtle is the Dermochelydae, or soft-shelled sea turtles. The leatherback sea turtle Dermochelys coriacea is the only living species in this family. This species is found in Florida waters, and females nest on Florida beaches. Hawksbill turtles nested on Florida beaches in the past but are not currently consistent nesters in the state. They can also be found sparsely nesting on Florida and south Texas beaches.
Sea turtles have been using beaches as nesting grounds since the early Pliocene, a time of global cooling that took place about 5. This was long before humans began developing coastlines.
Although there are two families of sea turtles, their basic life history strategies are similar. The natural life span of sea turtles is estimated to be between 50 and years. Because sea turtles spend a large portion of their lives in the pelagic open ocean, it is very difficult to study them. Most information we have on sea turtles comes from nesting turtles, since they are the most accessible and cost-efficient to study as they come onshore.
