Once onshore the female digs a flask - shaped hole with her rear flippers. Once t he cavity is completed she will proceed to deposit on average 120 ping pong ball- shaped eggs. She will then cover the nest by flinging sand over the cavity with her front flippers. The resulting body pit is a sure sign that eggs have been deposited. The eggs then incubate underground for 50 to 60 days, at which time the hatchlings will emerge and begin their trek down to the safety of water.
Loggerheads are the only species in which the hatchlings emerge completely at night.
This night ward trek is an evolutionary adaptation to avoid predation that would occur during the day. The hatchlings emerge dark in color and blend in well against the night sky. Marine turtle hatchlings use light as a visual cue that leads them to the water. However, artificial lighting from beach development results in hatchling death and disorientation by leading the hatchlings in the wrong direction. In Pinellas County this problem is severe enough that it has reduced the number of marine turtles actually dep ositing eggs, and caused us to undertake some extensive conservation practices to t ry an d cope with this problem.