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Video Clips of Nesting Turtles

Follow the different steps of the sea turtle nesting process starting with the female's entrance onto the beach all the way to the hatchling's exit two months later. This page uses .mpg video clips to bring viewers as close as possible to the action.

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The following clips are from video footage shot primarily by FWRI scientist Blair Witherington. The text was adapted from an FWC video called "A Beachcomber's Guide to Turtle Tracks," which uses some of the video and talks about the three most common turtles that nest on Florida beaches. Footage of the nesting loggerhead and green turtles was taken using night-vision cameras. The clips of the leatherback were taken during the day after a beach resident discovered the turtle and ran for her camera.

To see the video clips below, you will need a free movie player such as Quicktime. Make sure to let the video download completely before letting it play. Download Quicktime

Nesting Season
Though the season runs from May 1 to October 31, sea turtles may nest both before and after those dates, depending on how early the weather becomes warm or how late the weather stays warm.

The Body Pit
During these months, females begin to leave the ocean and crawl up onto beaches to nest. Somewhere between the rack line (where the waves wash debris at high tide) and the dunes, the turtles stop and begin digging a body pit. Using their front flippers to slowly move the loose sand into piles beside them and their rear flippers to push sand into a mound behind them, the females nestle themselves into the ground. This preparation makes it easier for them to dig the egg cavity without any dry sand falling into the hole.

• Download this clip of a loggerhead digging a body pit.* (2.8 MB / 12 seconds)
• Download this clip of a green turtle digging a body pit.* (2.3 MB / 10 seconds)

The Egg Cavity
The process of digging an egg cavity is illustrated in the diagram to the right. Alternating between the right and left rear flippers, sea turtles reach into the cavity, scrape the sand from the sides and the bottom, and scoop out the sand in a cupped flipper. They then empty it beside the hole. As one flipper does this, the other spreads out the previously removed sand. Green and leatherback turtles have the ability to bring sand out of the hole and curl their flipper to empty it behind them.

• Download this clip of a loggerhead turtle digging an egg cavity. (3.0 MB / 13 seconds)
• Download this clip of a green turtle digging an egg cavity. (3.4 MB / 15 seconds)
• Download this clip of leatherback turtle digging an egg cavity. (2.3 MB / 10 seconds)

Laying the Eggs
Depending on the species of the sea turtle, anywhere from about 80 to 120 eggs the size of ping-pong balls can be deposited in the egg cavity. Loggerheads have a unique trait in that her their rear flippers rise with each muscular contraction and release. Though green and leatherback turtles don’t do this, they do lay eggs with one of their rear flippers inside the cavity.

• Download this clip of a loggerhead turtle laying eggs.* (3.7 MB / 16 seconds)
• Download this clip of a green turtle laying eggs. (2.4 MB / 10 seconds)

Egg Covering and Camouflaging
Different species have different nuances in the way they cover their eggs; all push sand over their eggs with their rear flippers while compacting the sand with the pressure of their flippers and body. These packing and kneading movements are thought to help hatchlings when they dig out of the nest. If too loose, the sand could cave into their airspace, suffocating the newborn sea turtles. Once the original cavity is covered, females then flick and spray the sand in all directions to hide evidence of the nest from hungry predators like raccoons. After the nest is hidden, females return to the sea and never come back to the site.

• Download this clip of a green turtle covering her eggs. (2.3 MB / 10 seconds)
• Download this clip of a leatherback turtle covering her eggs.* (2.8 MB / 12 seconds)
• Download this clip of a leatherback turtle camouflaging her nest.* (2.7 MB / 12 seconds)

The False Crawl
Not every attempt to nest results in females laying eggs. If they run into some obstacle, whether natural or man-made, a “false crawl” occurs, and the turtle returns to the sea having failed to nest. Researchers are looking into the various causes of false crawls as well as how often they occur. A female can abort the nesting process at any time up until the actual laying of the eggs.

The Hatchlings Emerge
After about two months, the eggs hatch and the two-inch-long hatchlings begin the process of digging out of the nest. A few days later, they emerge and instinctively crawl toward the brightest horizon, which, in nature, is the night sky as reflected over the water.

The following clips of hatchlings crawling at night can be downloaded all at once or in six 10-second parts (beware the size of the full video clip).

• Download Full Clip (12.6 MB / 57 seconds)
  • Part 1 (2.4 MB / 10 seconds)
  • Part 2 (2.3 MB / 10 seconds)
  • Part 3 (2.2 MB / 10 seconds)
  • Part 4 (2.2 MB / 10 seconds)
  • Part 5 (2.2 MB / 9 seconds)
  • Part 6 (2.1 MB / 9 seconds)
• Download this clip of a hatchling crawling in daylight.* (1.5 MB / 6 seconds)

* Indicates video used in "A Beachcomber's Guide to Turtle Tracks."