Baby Sea Turtle Influx

Over the last few days, more than 400 baby sea turtles arrived at the Sea Turtle Healing Center at Brevard Zoo for care. Made up of mainly green and loggerhead species, the tiny animals were brought to us by the Sea Turtle Preservation Society from area beaches.

Our Healing Center team expected the influx – and more sea turtles may be on their way. If you find a baby sea turtle on the beach, do NOT place them back in the water. Please immediately call Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1-888-404-3922 for rescue instructions. If you find distressed, sick, dead or injured sea turtles in Brevard County, please contact the Sea Turtle Preservation Society at 321-206-0646.

Major weather events in the ocean, even if they don’t seem severe to us on land, can create rough conditions that push baby sea turtles back to shore. Some may have been making their first swim into the ocean, or were already at the rafts of sargassum, offshore patches of seaweed that provide them with shelter and food. Many of the Atlantic coast sea turtle rehabilitation facilities are receiving these small turtles.

Each of the babies is carefully assessed by our Healing Center staff and volunteers. They’re categorized by species as well as by size – “hatchlings” are under 5 centimeters long, while “post-hatchlings” are 5 centimeters or longer. Any injured or ill sea turtles are treated by our veterinary team.

The healthy turtles head to our pools, which are stocked with special enrichment items that allow the little ones to comfortably float and explore. They’re fed lettuce and a mashed-up mixture of fish, shrimp and clams.

Our staff and volunteers will be caring for these turtles until open ocean conditions improve. The baby sea turtles will be transported offshore in a boat and placed back in the weed lines.