Turtle tracks: Turtle facts you might not know

The Boca Grande Sea Turtle Patrol Team volunteers patrol the beach zones watching over the nests and care for them as needed. When the sea turtle season grows to a close, they also document the number of hatchlings hatched and unhatched, the number of hatchlings destroyed, and the number of dead and alive hatchlings in the nests and count the total of all the eggs in the nests. The patrol mainly documents the activity of the loggerhead sea turtle, but has recently documented an uptick in green sea turtle nests as well. The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta) is easily distinguished by its relatively large head. The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) gets its name from the greenish color of its body fat and has the presence of a pair of scales on the front of its forehead. The loggerhead and the green sea turtle alike create specific tracks in the sand providing clues for identification.