Gumbo Limbo
Turtle Walk & Hatchling Release
Pictures, a video clip & visitor info
from the Gumbo Limbo Turtle Walk & Hatchling Release programs in Boca Raton, FL.
Loggerhead Hatchling |
Baby Sea Turtle |
Preserved Sea Turtle |
Two of the
most popular programs offered at the
Gumbo
Limbo Nature Center are the night time turtle walks and hatchling
releases. Sea turtle season in South Florida begins on May 1st and ends on October 31st. During this time, you may notice that many buildings on the beach switch to dim orange lighting. You'll also see nesting sites marked with stakes and caution tape to prevent beachgoers from disturbing the eggs. During the "Turtle Walks", members of the public get to tag along with the Gumbo Limbo staff to possibly witness a female loggerhead sea turtle laying a "clutch" of eggs in the sand. Tickets for this program are $9 for non-members and $6 for members. Gumbo Limbo members can purchase tickets before they go on sale to the general public. |
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Annual Nesting Totals |
Taxidermy Loggerhead Turtle |
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The "Hatchling Release" program takes place later in the sea turtle season from late July to mid-August. Tickets are available first to members for $5 and then later to the general public for $8 per person. | ||
Loggerhead Skull |
Female Loggerhead On Beach |
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The pictures on
this page are combined from both a Turtle Walk and Hatchling Release that
took place on separate occasions.
Most of the images are screen captures from the video I shot with a Sony camcorder equipped with "Nightshot" and also a Sima SL-20IR infrared light. No flash photography, cell phones, flashlights, or other light emitting devices are allowed on a Turtle Walk or Hatchling Release since they can disorientate the turtles. Red lights or infrared lighting is allowed because they are outside the turtle's visible spectrum. |
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To view the full
video that these images were captured from, click on the large blue link
below.
The video is encoded in the Windows Media Video (WMV) format, runs
about 8 minutes long and has a file size of 20mb. If you'd like to download
the movie to your hard drive, right click on the link and choose "Save
Target As" or "Save Link As". |
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There are other sea turtle programs in South Florida such as at the Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, the Sebastian Inlet State Recreation Area, on Hutchinson Island, at Melbourne Beach, the "Moonlight Sea Turtle Walks by the Museum of Science & Discovery, and "Sea Turtle Awareness" at John U. Lloyd State Beach, | ||
For more of my
related photo galleries, take a look at the following links:
Gumbo Limbo
Nature Center,
Wakodahatchee Wetlands,
Red Reef Park,
American Orchid Society,
Morikami Japanese Gardens,
Palm Beach Zoo,
Mounts Botanical Garden,
Taste of the Palm Beaches, and the
Fountains At Camino Farmer's Market. |
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