If you're near or on the beach, keep outside lights off or minimized from May 1 - October 31. Be careful while boating to avoid collisions with turtles and never throw trash in the water or on the beach. Become informed about environmental issues and spread the word to others. The endangered hawksbill, a relatively small turtle, has been hunted to the brink of extinction for its beautiful shell. Once relatively common in Florida, these turtles now nest here only rarely.
Hawksbills feed on sponges and other invertebrates and tend to nest on small, isolated beaches.
The rarest and smallest of all the sea turtles, the endangered Kemp's ridley feeds in the coastal waters of Florida on blue crabs and other crabs and shrimp. All Kemp's ridleys nest on a single stretch of beach on the Gulf coast of Mexico. The loggerhead turtle is the most common sea turtle in Florida. It is listed as a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act. Named for its large head, which can be ten inches wide, it has powerful jaws to crush the heavy-shelled clams, crabs and encrusting animals on which it feeds.