DAYTONA BEACH SHORES, Fla. – Volusia County has officially broken its sea turtle nesting season record — and there are still three months left to go.
As of Wednesday, turtles have laid 1,517 nests along the county’s coastline, surpassing the previous record of 1,516 nests set in 2023. Nesting season runs through Oct. 31.
“We have nests hatching pretty much nightly now,” said Nicole Weiss, a member of the county’s Habitat Conservation Plan team.
Weiss says one of the biggest contributing factors to the boom is conservation efforts that began in the 1970s. Because sea turtles take decades to reach breeding age, those early protections are now paying off in a measurable way.
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“Because of the time frame it takes for sea turtles to reach that breeding stage of life, usually 20 to 30 years depending on species, we’re seeing a lot more turtles now being able to reach that reproductive age,” Weiss said.
While the record has already been broken, Weiss says the pace of nesting is expected to slow in the coming weeks.
“Typically we start to see the nest count slowing down in the August-September time frame, so we still have a good, solid month of daily nests,” she said.
Some beachgoers in Daytona Beach Shores were lucky enough to witness a nest hatch overnight — right next to the nest that broke the record. Kelly Sheller and her family were among those who saw it.
“You can see the little tracks where the mama turtle went up this morning and then came back out to the beach. It’s amazing to see it in real life, you see it on TV but I’ve never had a chance to see it in real life,” Sheller said.
As nesting numbers continue to climb, county officials are asking beachgoers to do their part to keep the shoreline safe for sea turtles. Recommended steps include keeping the beach clean and flat, filling in holes after digging them, picking up trash and turning off lights at night.