06/14/2026
The Reserve Provides Turtle Season Awareness
The Training and Engagement team at the Apalachicola Reserve has finished distributing various informational items ahead of sea turtle nesting season, which began in May. Staff visited several local vacation rental companies with properties on St. George Island, including Collins Vacation Rentals, Fickling Vacation Rentals, Suncoast Vacation Rentals, Cape and Coast Vacation Rentals, Forgotten Shore Properties, 300 Ocean Mile, Sandcastle Vacation Rentals, Buccaneer Inn, and Plantation Homeowners, as well as the St. George Island Lighthouse and the St. George Island Visitor Center. The staple item provided was sea turtle window clings, along with supplementary informational pamphlets and brochures covering topics such as sea turtle nesting, the risk lights, uneven sand, and beach gear to turtles, local recreational spots, and rip current safety.
St. George Island is an important nesting location for sea turtles. Much of the island’s gulf-side coast is lined with vacation homes, many of which are occupied by visitors during nesting season. By providing these rental companies with window clings and informational handouts, they can keep their guests informed on the importance of sea turtle nesting and how to minimize their disturbance of it. Common problems sea turtle hatchlings face from beachside rentals are disorientation by man-made lights, man-made holes in the sand obstructing a path to the water, and forgotten-behind beach gear that becoming an obstacle to water-bound hatchling travel.
