Florida Sea Turtles Thrive: Record Nests & Releases

0:00Florida hit record sea turtle nests in 2025 across 225 beaches. Green Turtles laid 66,000 all 476 nests, the second highest ever after 77,042 in 20, 23. Leatherbacks smashed their own record with 2,012 nests, topping the old mark of 1,848 from 20. 22. Loggerhead stayed strong too. Meanwhile, at the Florida Aquarium Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center and Apollo Beach, they're prepping young turtles for release back into the wild. The aim is getting them healthy enough to nest someday. Big win, green turtles just got downgraded from highly endangered to lower concern. Biologists are pumped about these numbers, but they stress sea turtles mature slow up to 60 years. Impacts we see now won't show fully for decades. Folks like Center Manager Alyssa Fessett say, keep up conservation year round to lock in these gains for the next generation.

1:00Right now, the centers treating 20 cold-stun turtles and one they got tangled in fishing line with a partial flipper amputation, it's almost ready to swim free. Rehab can take 3 months to a year, with vets doing checkups, blood work, even CT scans when needed. So as nesting season rolls through October, hit the beach smart, pack out your trash, fill sand holes and flatten castles for easy crawls, and dim. Those lights to avoid confusing the hatchlings. These efforts keep the momentum going strong. Local news, powered by AI. This is Tampa Bay News Today. I'm Corey with The Story.