- From May until October, more than 100 South Walton Turtle Watch Volunteers walk up and down the beach in their designated turtle watch areas.
The Coordinator for South Walton Turtle Watch, Valerie Lofton said, "The walkers are not only looking for new tracks, for new nests, but they also come up and check on the old nests."
On Thursday morning, Valerie Lofton found a nest behind the High Pointe Condominiums in South Walton that had been destroyed, and not by an animal.
"There was a big mound of sand just outside of the nest," said Lofton. "With knee prints in it and hand prints that were forward."
According to Lofton, a person dug about two feet deep into the turtle nest, which could potentially lead to a large amount of sand getting into the hatchling's air pockets.
"They will suffocate because of all the sand filling their air pockets in that nest," said Lofton.
As a result, the hatchlings could die.
Local Volunteer, Tobias Lofton, said, "The person who did this wasn't really smart."
There are seven different types of endangered sea turtle species, four of which create their nests on our sandy beaches.
The Panhandle is only halfway through sea turtle nesting season, and according to Valerie Lofton, eight nests have already been tampered with this year.
"Just in the last three or four weeks we've had footprints throughout the middle of nests," said Lofton. "We've had our tape torn down, we've had the stakes completely taken out and thrown into the Gulf."
Not only is touching a sea turtle's nest a federal offense, but touching a sea turtle itself is also a crime.
So when you see a turtle nest, "Dont mess it up, and respect the rules that it says on the stake," said Tobias.
Those of us who care about this place need to do everything possible to support Turtle Watch and protect the nests, and all of our wildlife.
