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I really don't know why turtles aren't extinct. Sharks eat them. How do
they deal with that? They are pretty slow and have to come up for air all the time. They are the proverbial sitting ducks. And there are sharks aplenty here. Then you have all of their nesting areas almost gone because of development. When they do find a place to lay their eggs, the hatchlings get confused by streetlights thinking it is the moonlight that normally guides them, and they take off in the opposite direction of the ocean. Plus 99% that do make it to the ocean get eaten.
We do have one spot here on Lower Matecumbe Key that still has a very small strip of beach right by the highway that is an ancestral egg laying spot (I think they always come back to the place same as where they were born?). We are talking only a 10 to 15 foot wide stretch of sand, maybe a quarter mile long. It has red streetlights, and many kind neighbors also use red porch lights to try to help them out. And when a nest is spotted it is roped off. But still, the odds for these poor animals are abysmal.
Thread Replies (2)
Coach, keep em turtles safe !**
-- astrohokie
Jul 21, 2026 at 12:44 PM ET
astrohokie
•
07/21/26 12:44 PM ET
I really don't know why turtles aren't extinct. Sharks eat them. How do
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-- Coach McGuirk
Jul 21, 2026 at 01:17 PM ET
Coach McGuirk
•
07/21/26 01:17 PM ET