Posted on March 18, 2026
Florida sea turtles in the past five years have laid over 14,000 nests on two St. Lucie County beaches currently undergoing massive sand replenishment projects, which are occurring during the start of nesting season.
Crews with heavy equipment and portable lights are working day and night, seven days a week, to finish.
From 2021-2025, green, loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles laid this many nests, according to Ecological Associates Inc., a Jensen Beach environmental consultant that monitors sea turtle nesting:
- 13,628 on 3.3 miles of beach in the project area north of the south St. Lucie County line
- 463 one about a mile of beach south of the Fort Pierce inlet jetty, where crews are staging equipment and on March 16 will begin placing 400,000 cubic yards of sand on the beach.
