BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — While a Brevard beach renourishment project is wrapping up soon, it may cause some hurdles during sea turtle nesting season, which runs from March 1 through Oct. 31.
Along South Patrick Shores, steep sand cliffs have formed from the renourishment project, affecting nesting sea turtles.
What You Need To Know
- Sea turtle nesting season began March 1 and continues through Oct. 31
- A beach renourishment project stretching from Patrick Space Force Base to south Melbourne Beach is just finishing up
- One million cubic yards of sand is being put on the beaches after hurricanes caused major erosion in that 11-mile stretch
- Steep sand cliffs can form after replenishment work, making it difficult for turtles to return to the ocean
The area is part of the $47 million Brevard County Mid- and South Reach Shore Protection Project, which was started to fix major erosion caused by hurricanes Ian and Nicole in 2022.
One million cubic yards of sand is being placed on beaches from Patrick Space Force Base to 11 miles down to south Melbourne Beach.
Brevard County is a major nesting ground for Leatherbacks and other turtles, home to an estimated 8,000 to 20,000 nests each year.
A Georgia couple staying at a beach condominim in South Patrick Shores notice a crowd gathering around something large on the beach.
“My friend has a little guide in her room on the sea turtles in the area," Matthew Graves said. "We were like, 'That kind of looks like a Leatherback,' and we were trying to guess its size."
They were right. It was a Leatherback, and the mother turtle was laying eggs in a nest right up against a sand cliff that is several feet tall.
That is a rare sight, especially during the daytime.
Graves was concerned she and other turtles would struggle and not be able to get past it or return to the ocean.
“Where she was, the lip is higher than it is over here, so it didn’t seem there was any viable opportunity for her to get past the first lip,” he said.
Now the question is whether the beach will be restored to level ground.
“How these things are forming and if anything can be done to make it more conductive for the turtles to be able to do their thing and continue,” Graves said.
Brevard County Natural Resources said the South Patrick Shores beach was the last portion of the mid-reach replenishment project.
The steep slopes can form after replenishment work.
Officials said they are confident more wave events as summer approaches will create a gentler beach slope.
