Sea turtle patrol starts early on Sarasota area beaches

It's just after sunrise on Sarasota's Lido Beach and the start of sea turtle patrol for Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium Senior Biologist Melissa Bernhard.

“We have a report of a possible nest a couple hundred feet down,” she said on a recent morning. ”We're just going to walk down to it and see if it is a nest and take some data on it, regardless."

It’s common this time of year to see wooden stakes blocking off sea turtle nests on area beaches.

Nest marking materials are protected under the U. S. Endangered Species Act and Florida State Law. Bernhard says nesting numbers have grown over the past decade but sea turtles still face a host of obstacles.