- June 30, 2026
At 1,144 nests laid to date, sea turtle season is off to a historic start in Volusia County.
The number of nests has almost doubled since June 11, when the county reported 695 nests — a figure that had already surpassed the previous record year to date, which was 2023, at which point the county had 444 nests documented.
County staff are shocked at the rapidly rising number of nests, said Jennifer Winters, protected species manager for Volusia County.
"Year to year, we don't know what we're going to expect, really," Winters said. "So we're pleasantly surprised that we're having such active nesting activity and the numbers are just jumping up exponentially. Almost every day, we're getting over 20 nests."
The 2023 sea turtle nesting season culminated with 1,516 nests, the highest ever recorded. This year's nest count to date is less than 400 away from shattering that record, with almost four months left in the season. Volusia County's beaches are home to four different species of sea turtles: Loggerhead, green, leatherback and Kemp's Ridley, the rarest.
Volusia Turtle Patrol volunteer Marcia Harden patrols the beach three times a week — two days on foot and one day in the truck. Her name is on about 50 nests being monitored in the Ponce Inlet area.
"It's exciting, every single time you see a crawl or a mama, if you're very lucky," Harden said.
Harden moved to Daytona Beach Shores in 2018. That year, she saw a green sea turtle lay her nest underneath a drain pipe, which meant it needed to be relocated.
That's when she first encountered the Turtle Patrol. Volunteers documented the crawl and moved the nest.
Harden knew right then she wanted to join them and became a volunteer in 2020.
The Volusia Turtle Patrol is one of two nonprofit organizations that help the county document and monitor sea turtle nests. The Turtle Patrol monitors the beach from Ponce Inlet to Ormond-by-the-Sea. The New Smyrna Beach Turtle Trackers work south of Ponce Inlet.
The county provides logistical support, supplies and equipment to the groups in exchange for volunteers to check the beach for new nests by 8 a.m. so the county can open the beach driving ramps. The groups provide the county with their data.
Those partnerships are extremely important, Winters said.
"Without it, we probably wouldn't have the ability to allow public driving because all of our nests by federal permit are required to be marked, and there are several parts of our programs that will ensure their survival of these nests," Winters said, citing the team that removes vehicle tracks in front of soon-to-hatch nests to help hatchlings reach the water safely.
Volusia County's increase of sea turtle nests follows a statewide trend. According to a June 16 update by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, the nesting season was off to a strong start across the state.
As of May 31, there were:
Why are we seeing an increase?
Winters said that renowned biologist Blair Witherington said in a webinar on World Sea Turtle Day, June 16, that the consensus in the scientific community is that conservation efforts are working. These measures date to the Endangered Species Act, enacted in 1973, and are showing that sea turtle populations are recovering.
"Sea turtles have a very long lifespan," Winters said. "It actually takes them around 30 years to reach sexual maturity. So if you think about that, we would only be really on the second generation of sea turtles that are recovering from near extinction back in the '70s, particularly the green sea turtle."
For Harden, volunteering with the Turtle Patrol is her way of giving back and helping to maintain the coastal ecosystem.
"Look at God's beautiful world," she said. "How can I say thanks?"
Before she became a volunteer, she regularly walked the beach in the mornings to pick up trash. It's one of the first needs she identified when she moved to Daytona Beach Shores in 2018.
"I immediately saw, 'Oh my goodness, there needs to be a janitor on the beach — let it be me,'" she recalled.
One morning, she picked up a plastic bag with a baby sea turtle inside.
"The memory still makes me cry, but it also infuriated me that people would be having such little concern for Mother Nature," Harden said. "Because without caring for this world, this earth, my grandchildren don't have a chance. ... We have to take care of our blessings."
