Rare sighting of Kemp’s ridley sea turtle on Pensacola Beach this weekend

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) – Escambia County Natural Resources Management posted on its Facebook page pictures and information about a sighting of a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle on Pensacola Beach Saturday.

Here is the post:

A rare sighting of a Kemp’s ridley sea turtle was spotted on Pensacola Beach today (Saturday).

This female was in search of a spot to lay her eggs and was unsuccessful, this is called a “false crawl.”

Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are the only species of sea turtles that nest during the day and she will attempt to lay her eggs again.

After multiple false crawls the sea turtle will drop her eggs in the ocean to make room for another clutch of eggs to develop.

Sea turtles will lay multiple nests per nesting season with an average of 3-5 nests per sea turtle.

If you see a nesting turtle contact (850)281-5904 immediately and create a safe distance for the turtle to lay her eggs.

If you encounter a sea turtle at night, turn off all lights and retreat a safe distance away.

Dead or injured sea turtles should be reported to Escambia County Marine Resources at (850) 281-5904 or the FWC Wildlife Alert line at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922).

All sea turtle work performed by Escambia County was completed under Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Marine Turtle Permits #032 and #202.