Clearwater Records 405 Sea Turtle Nests in Best Season in 30 Years

The Clearwater Marine Aquarium counted 405 sea turtle nests along a 21-mile stretch of Pinellas County beaches. The count ran from April through Oct. 2025. Staff also tracked 613 false crawls during that time. These numbers blow past anything seen in three decades.

Last year, only 271 nests were counted. False crawls occur when a turtle drags herself ashore but abandons the attempt without digging.

"Within the last 30 years of data that we do have, we have never seen this many activities in one season," said Carly Oakley, manager of CMA's sea turtle nesting team, per Fox 13 News.

What caused the spike? Oakley sees two possibilities. Maybe conservation programs are working, and more turtles are reaching maturity. Or maybe the 2024 hurricanes wrecked other beaches, pushing turtles to find safer ground.

"It is either that our conservation efforts are working and making a difference. Therefore, there are more turtles to lay more nests," she said, addording to the St. Pete Catalyst. "Or other areas might have been more negatively impacted by the 2024 hurricanes so the turtles had to find somewhere else to nest."

Green turtles came off the endangered list in October. They're still threatened in Florida, though. Loggerheads face the same threatened status here.

The team watches each nest from the day they mark it until babies break through the sand. They check for flooding, coyote attacks, and people getting too close.

"The hurricanes took out a majority of our nests" in 2024, Oakley said, per Fox 13 News. "Now, this year we had a much successful year. The majority of our nests did hatch."

Researchers have spotted a pattern. High years, then moderate, then low. The cycle repeats every three years because turtles nest several times in one season, then skip the next two years before coming back.

Beach restoration projects in Pinellas County might create more room for nests down the road, but it takes 25 to 30 years for a sea turtle to grow up and start laying eggs. That means we won't know the real impact of this season for decades.

Federal law shields sea turtles, their nests, and their eggs from harm. People can help by keeping beaches dark at night, removing trash, and filling holes before they leave. Knock down sandcastles too — hatchlings need a clear path to the water.