00:00Sea turtles are having a near record-breaking summer across the southeast.
00:04From Florida to Georgia and South Carolina, some beaches are reporting an incredible surge in nests.
00:10On July 22nd, Hilton Head Beach Patrol recorded its 400th sea turtle deaths of the season,
00:16drawing closer to their all-time high.
00:18My family and I even witnessed hatchlings make their first incredible journey across the sand
00:22and into the ocean in Hilton Head this July.
00:25Florida is also seeing huge numbers.
00:28As of June 30th, officials had counted more than 94,000 loggerhead nests,
00:33putting the state on pace to challenge its all-time season record.
00:37But Tropical Storm Bertha brought a threat to some nests in the eastern Gulf earlier this week.
00:42Coastal flooding, beach erosion, and high surf damaged and washed away some nests along parts of the Florida Panhandle.
00:48Researchers point to three major reasons for this year's nesting boom.
00:52First, sea turtles nest in cycles.
00:54Females may lay several nests in one season.
00:57Then take a few years off.
00:592026 appears to be a big nesting year.
01:02Warmer ocean temperatures may also be encouraging turtles to nest earlier, extending the season.
01:06And decades of conservation are paying off from protecting nesting areas
01:11to limiting bright beachfront lights that can disorient hatchlings.
01:15It's a promising season, but the coming weeks will be critical for thousands of nests along the southeast coast.
01:20It's a spring where the water pollifies.
01:20Maybe it's a телефон that can disorient to set your people like is the third of the other
01:20plague, however, is theoggerhead, ca� floats.
01:20I don't know which medicine, but it's a surprise in the wilderness.
01:20I have no more blood to the surface
01:21So, sweet, awareness.
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