PINELLAS CO, Fla. — Fort De Soto Park was ravaged by hurricane Helene, leaving behind a trail of debris that took months to cleanup. During that cleanup, park officials noticed something had changed across the more than 1,100-acre park – an exploding gopher tortoise population.

What You Need To Know

  • The  Gopher Tortoise population increased in Fort De Soto Park after Hurricane Helene 

  •  Officials say they came from near by Egmont Key, a mile away. 

  •  Eckerd College is studying the movement of the gopher tortoises 

Fort De Soto Park Manager, Dave Harshbarger, first noticed the gopher tortoises on the beach.

“We did have a gopher tortoise population in the park, but it was limited, 8 known burrows at that time. After Helene, we started to find tortoise out on our beaches, quickly realized it wasn’t our 8,” Harshbarger said.

Officials say the number of burrows has now swelled to over 80 found so far. They also say the tortoises came from nearby Egmont Key and somehow ended up in Fort De Soto after Hurricane Helene.

“We found them right there on the beach, so we think that a combination of some potential to float or swim, we did have massive amounts of debris that came over from Egmont Key, it’s entirely possible that they rode those debris rafts over,” Harshbarger said.

Eckerd College is studying the gopher tortoise population and monitoring their movement with cameras outside of their burrows, which are spread all around the park.

Officials stress to park goers to keep their distance from gopher tortoises. Respect its habitat as well as to be on the lookout if they are crossing roadways.