In 1994, the Volusia County Sea Grant Extension Program, with cooperative funding from the Rotary Club of Daytona Beach West, The Chelonnia Institute of Virginia and the Volusia County Family and Community Educators Association commissioned Pennsylvania turtle artist Tom McFarland to construct a portable sculpture featuring loggerhead sea turtle nesting behavior. The sculpture is a unique, cross-sectional view of the interior of a hatching loggerhead sea turtle nest, similar to those found along the central east coast of Florida, usually during the months of May to October. This display successfully blends artistic expression, scientific knowledge, and marine education in a visually impacting format. Explanatory text panels on both sides of the sculpture explain the sculpture itself and the general life history, nesting habits, and human threats that are endangering this unique ocean reptile. Recent research indicates that these turtles circle the entire North Atlantic Ocean during the early years of their lives, and in an amazing feat of navigation, adult females return to nest on the same beaches on which they were born.
Loggerheads are the most common of the five species of sea turtles found in Florida.
The adults are 3 to 4-feet long and can weigh over 350 pounds. They begin mating at about the age of 20 and typically lay about 100 soft, shiny, ping-pong ball sized eggs at a time. After about 55 days, the 2-inch long hatchlings break out of their shells inside the nesting cavity. During the cooler nighttime hours, they work together to dig up through the sand and out of the nest. Once on the beach, the hatchlings head toward the glow of the Atlantic Ocean.