June and July bring thousands of sea turtles to the beaches of Florida, and Brevard County is the top nesting spot in the world for loggerhead turtles. That's right -- Brevard County beaches are perhaps the most important nesting site in the world for loggerhead sea turtles. Nearby Atlantic Ocean beaches of Volusia County and Indian River County are also important nesting areas.

Brevard County takes its important location seriously and is very protective of the nesting turtles. The county also realizes the wonderful educational opportunity that exists. Anyone can come to observe the nesting sea turtles, but to have the best chance of seeing the turtles and to avoid interfering with their nesting, it's best to join an organized turtle walk. Looking for turtles on your own is not advised.

I took a turtle walk with the Sea Turtle Preservation Society (STPS) on a Wednesday evening. About 29 other participants and I, along with 15 or so volunteers from STPS, gathered under a picnic pavilion at a public beach. At 9 p.m. David Hochberg, a volunteer and director of STPS who has led more than 300 turtle walks, introduced the speakers and volunteers. Richard Winn, another key volunteer, talked about some important rules to ensure our safety and to comply with turtle-watching regulations: stay with the group, follow instructions, no flashlights and no flash photography.

A slide show presentation was given by volunteer Dr. Steven Lazarus, who is assistant professor of meteorology at nearby Florida Institute of Technology. We all learned a lot about sea turtles during the presentation, and Dr. Lazarus even kept all of the young children interested.

While we were watching the presentation, STPS turtle "scouts" were out on the beach looking for turtles coming ashore in the dark. Once they located the right turtle (their turtle-watching permit only covers loggerheads), they waited until she had dug a nest and is laying eggs before calling us down onto the beach.

We walked quietly down the beach and took a position behind the egg-laying turtle. STPS has a special flashlight that only emits red light, which illuminates the turtle nest. The red light is less intrusive to the turtle.

After watching the egg-laying process (a half-hour or so), we backed off so the turtle could cover up the nest and make her way slowly back to the sea. We were back to our cars before midnight.

The turtle walk guides were very professional and were careful not to do anything that might disturb the turtle. They also made sure each one of us got a close-up look at the egg-laying.

If you want to see nesting turtles, you should sign up with an organized turtle walk rather than trying to find them yourself, and here's why:

• Sea turtles that nest on Florida's beaches are either "endangered" or "threatened" and are protected by strict laws. Disturbing a nesting turtle could be very costly. A permit is required to have any interaction with nesting turtles. Remember, flashlights are prohibited on the beach at night during turtle nesting season.
• You'll learn a tremendous amount about sea turtles by listening to a presentation and by talking to the highly experienced volunteers and tour leaders. It is a fabulous experience.
• Turtle walk leaders know how to spot the turtles and determine when it is safe to approach without spooking them. It's very dark on the beach at night, and it takes an experienced eye (and sometimes night-vision scopes) to spot the turtles.
• Supporting the turtle walks helps support the people who volunteer hundreds of hours each week to monitor turtle nesting and help sick or injured turtles.
• You'll have a far better experience if you go with a guided tour group.

Turtle walks are very popular and fill up quickly. Sign-up usually begins in the month of May for the June and July turtle walks. There are a number of different organizations that offer turtle walks in Brevard County, and there may still be spots left in 2009. If not, be sure to plan early next year. You'll be glad you did.

Sea Turtle Preservation Society
SeaTurtleSpaceCoast.org
111 S. Miramar, Indialantic, FL 32903
321-676-1701

Caribbean Conservation Corporation
Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge
Call the Barrier Island Center at 321-723-3556.

Canaveral National Seashore's Apollo Beach (Volusia County)
386-428-3384

Sebastian Inlet State Park (Brevard and Indian River counties)
772-388-2750

Question: For which ages is a nighttime turtle walk appropriate?
Answer: All ages, generally. Children should be able to be quiet while around the turtle and should be old enough to understand and appreciate what they are seeing. There was a 4-year-old present on our walk, and he had a great time.

Question: What physical abilities are needed to go on a turtle walk?
Answer: A person should be able to walk in soft sand on an uneven beach in the dark, without the aid of a flashlight. Sound hard? It's not. Anyone with normal walking abilities will be fine.

Question: What should I take with me on the walk?
Answer: Water, insect repellent and shoes that you can expect to get wet. Often it may be necessary to walk near the water's edge, and the surging waves may soak your feet. I was told that having binoculars is helpful for scanning the beach at night, but I unintentionally left mine in the car, so I can't vouch for that.

Question: How far will I have to walk?
Answer: It depends on where the walk is and where the turtle is found. Usually not more than a half-mile or so. Ask your tour provider, who will be happy to fill you in on the details.