Sea Turtle Nesting Season on the Treasure Coast

St. Lucie County sets its sea turtle nesting season at March 1 through Nov. 15, while Indian River County states March 1 to October 31 on its Round Island Oceanside Park listing.

The St. Lucie County sea turtle information page gives the season as March 1 through Nov. 15 and calls the county's 21 miles of beaches critical nesting grounds for green, leatherback and loggerhead turtles (St. Lucie County sea turtle information). The county tips page words it the same way: nesting season in St. Lucie County runs from March 1 to Nov. 15 (St. Lucie County tips page).

North of the county line the end date is earlier. Indian River County's listing for Round Island Oceanside Park says sea turtle nesting season runs from March 1 to October 31, and that multiple beach sections are blocked off during it to protect nesting mounds (Indian River County, Round Island Oceanside Park). The two counties publish different closing dates for their own beaches; each date applies to the county that posts it.

FWC's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute uses the index window to allow accurate comparisons of nest counts between beaches and between years, and FWC notes that the index counts do not include leatherback nesting at the beginning of the season, before May 15 (FWC index survey page). The St. Lucie County page adds that last season the first recorded nest in the county was laid in late February, ahead of the March 1 start (St. Lucie County).

FWC's statewide ordinance list shows sea turtle lighting codes for Fort Pierce and unincorporated St. Lucie County, and for Indian River County, Indian River Shores, Orchid and Vero Beach.

Section 161.163 of the Florida Statutes directs the state Department of Environmental Protection to adopt by rule guidelines for local government regulations that control beachfront lighting to protect hatching sea turtles (section 161.163). FWC keeps a statewide list of local sea turtle lighting codes, St. Lucie County and Indian River County codes among them, with the adoption year, the code section and an enforcement phone for each (FWC sea turtle protection ordinances).

For beachfront owners on Hutchinson Island in unincorporated St. Lucie County, the county sea turtle page spells out what it asks during the season: exterior light sources are modified or turned off so the light is not directly visible from the beach and does not fall on areas seaward of the primary dune between sunset and sunrise (St. Lucie County sea turtle information). Window treatments are required on every window of single and multi-story buildings within the line of sight of the beach. Blackout draperies or shade screens are preferred, and approved window tint is the alternative.

The FWC list also carries separate rows for Indian River Shores, Orchid and Vero Beach, which the Sebastian sea turtle nesting rules guide covers. Questions about the St. Lucie County code go to St. Lucie County Code Compliance at 772-462-1553 (St. Lucie County tips page).

FWC counts a beachfront fixture on the Treasure Coast as wildlife lighting only if it meets all three criteria: low, long wavelength and shielded.

The FWC wildlife lighting page defines the three tests (FWC wildlife lighting). Low means mounting the fixture as low as possible and using the lowest wattage needed. Long means a long wavelength source above 560 nm, such as amber, orange and red LEDs. Shielded means fixtures that meet or exceed full cutoff, so the lamp or glowing lens is not directly visible. The St. Lucie County sea turtle page points owners to the same FWC lighting material (St. Lucie County).

FWC and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service run a Wildlife Lighting Certification Program that lists certified fixtures and bulbs, and FWC points home owners, property managers and code enforcement officers to that list of certified fixtures and bulbs (FWC certification program). The 2014 Avalon State Park management plan names disorientation from artificial lighting as one of the two major threats to nesting turtles there, with predation, and commits that any lighting in the park or added later will be turtle friendly under the FWC guidelines (Avalon State Park unit management plan).

St. Lucie County asks beachgoers to keep beaches dark, flat and clean in nesting season: no white flashlights, no furniture left overnight, holes filled and trash carried off.

The county's guidance is specific (St. Lucie County sea turtle information). Regular flashlights are discouraged during nesting season, while red or infrared light is fine. Beach furniture should not be left on the sand overnight. Pits, holes and sandcastles can trap hatchlings, so the beach should be left as it was found, and trash goes in the receptacles. People within line of sight of the beach are encouraged to switch off unneeded indoor lights and close curtains and blinds at night.

Two St. Lucie County pages word the bonfire rule differently. The sea turtle information page says bonfires are prohibited on all St. Lucie County beaches year-round (St. Lucie County sea turtle information), while the tips page says flashlights and bonfires are discouraged during nesting season (St. Lucie County tips page).

Dog owners have one choice in St. Lucie County. The county names Walton Rocks Beach as the only dog-approved beach in St. Lucie County and asks that dogs there stay leashed so they do not dig up nests (St. Lucie County). The Treasure Coast dog friendly beaches guide covers the Indian River County rule. In Indian River County beach parks such as Round Island Oceanside, the county reminds visitors that trash, holes and digging can affect whether turtles nest and hatch successfully, and asks that holes be filled before leaving (Round Island Oceanside Park).

Florida's Marine Turtle Protection Act makes it unlawful on any Treasure Coast beach to knowingly take, disturb, harass or possess a marine turtle, hatchling, egg or nest without a permit.

Indian River County's Round Island Oceanside Park page reminds visitors that all sea turtles are protected by federal and state laws (Indian River County). Section 379.2431 of the Florida Statutes states that a person, firm or corporation may not knowingly possess, take, disturb, mutilate, destroy, cause to be destroyed, transfer, sell, offer to sell, molest or harass any marine turtle species or hatchling, or parts of one, or the eggs or nest (section 379.2431). Under the same statute, an act involving eggs carries a penalty of $100 per egg on top of other penalties, illegally possessing 11 or fewer eggs is a first degree misdemeanor, and possessing more than 11 eggs is a third degree felony. Illegally taking, disturbing or harassing a turtle, hatchling, egg or nest is also a third degree felony. The statute defines take as an act that actually kills or injures marine turtles, including significant habitat modification or degradation that impairs breeding, feeding or sheltering (section 379.2431 definitions).

St. Lucie County asks that anyone who sees nest poaching or harassment call 911 or the FWC hotline at 1-888-404-FWCC, and that sick, injured, entangled or dead turtles be reported to FWC's Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922) (St. Lucie County). Indian River County asks callers to have the exact location, whether the animal is dead or alive, whether it is marked with spray paint, and the closest access point (Round Island Oceanside Park).

Loggerhead, green and leatherback turtles nest on Treasure Coast beaches, and Avalon State Park on North Hutchinson Island is one of the beaches the state uses to track nesting.

The Avalon State Park management plan says the three species use the relatively undeveloped beach in the park for nesting, and that the park serves as a state index and survey beach (Avalon State Park unit management plan). The plan describes daily beach surveys by park staff during the season, recording the previous night's crawls, false crawls, species and nests, and the data feed state and federal policy. The plan put predation of nests at Avalon below the 10% threshold at that time.

Beyond the Treasure Coast county pages, FWC's statewide Index Nesting Beach Survey has run since 1989 on 27 core index beaches on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of peninsular Florida (FWC Index Nesting Beach Survey totals). Index counts represent about 52 percent of known loggerhead nesting in Florida, 75 percent of known green turtle nesting and 29 percent of known leatherback nesting. Loggerhead index counts reached a minimum of 28,876 nests in 2007 and a maximum of 71,009 in 2023, and green turtle counts have shown a strong overall increase since 1989, from less than 300 to over 61,000 in 2023. FWC cautions that these counts are not Florida's total annual nest counts, because they come from 27 of 225 beaches.

For a sense of scale on the Indian River County side, the Round Island Oceanside Park page states that sea turtles deposit from 40,000 to 70,000 nests in Florida each year, which it calls the most important nesting area in the United States (Indian River County). St. Lucie County publishes its own counts on a sea turtle nesting dashboard linked from its sea turtle page, which is the place to check current numbers (St. Lucie County).

Last verified: October 22, 2026, by rereading two St. Lucie County turtle pages, the Round Island Oceanside listing, three FWC pages, two Florida statutes and the Avalon plan for this Treasure Coast nesting guide.