BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A week after Hurricane Milton, nature is taking its course again on Central Florida beaches.
Beach erosion wasn’t major in Brevard County, but some are still spotting some washed-out turtle eggs.
Joel Cohen with the Sea Turtle Preservation Society showed News 6 reporter James Sparvero washed out eggs and nests by the Indialantic boardwalk.
“That is actually normal,” Cohen said of a hurricane’s impact on turtles.
That means unhatched eggs aren’t necessarily bad news, either.
”It could’ve got washed out, but it could be natural,” Cohen said.
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Mother sea turtles lay eggs all up and down beaches to give hatchlings the best chance of making it.
”They’re literally hedging their bets to make sure they get some kind of survival,” Cohen said.
UCF’s Marine Turtle Research Group also studies sea turtle populations on south Brevard County beaches.
Friday, Sparvero recorded a hatchling that survived the storm being released to the ocean.
“Go, little guy, go,” Sparvero exclaimed while looking on.
Cohen said Brevard County’s large beach renourishment project that was started after the 2022 hurricanes is helping to protect turtles from storms.
The county’s beach manager said the project will resume Nov. 1 when turtle nesting season ends.
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