Images

A set of tracks left by tiny sea turtle hatchlings when they emerged from their nests and crawled toward the sea during the night.

Research excavation of a loggerhead sea turtle nest (Caretta caretta) on a sandy Florida beach. The excavation is part of a county research program that keeps track of the number of nests (by species) - mostly loggerhead, a few greens, and an occasional leatherback.

A morning photo depicts evidence of a sea turtle nesting the previous night (from the sea, left; return to sea, right). The protective stakes mark a nest from an earlier week as part of a county research program that marks and records every eighth nest.

Subtropical Atlantic Ocean sunrise with the dark clouds of a distant offshore thunderstorm.

A morning photo depicts evidence of a sea turtle nesting the previous night (from the sea, left; return to sea, right). The protective stakes mark a nest from an earlier week as part of a county research program that marks and records every eighth nest.

A morning photo depicts evidence of a sea turtle nesting the previous night (from the sea, left; return to sea, right). The protective stakes mark a nest from an earlier week as part of a county research program that marks and records every eighth nest.

Red morning sunrise on the Atlantic Ocean as seen from a barrier island.

Subtropical Atlantic Ocean sunrise with the dark clouds of a distant offshore thunderstorm.

A morning photo depicts evidence of a sea turtle nesting the previous night (from the sea, left; return to sea, right). The protective stakes mark a nest from an earlier week as part of a county research program that marks and records every eighth nest.

A morning photo depicts evidence of a sea turtle nesting the previous night (from the sea, left; return to sea, right). The protective stakes mark a nest from an earlier week as part of a county research program that marks and records every eighth nest.

A morning photo depicts evidence of a sea turtle nesting the previous night (from the sea, left; return to sea, right). The protective stakes mark a nest from an earlier week as part of a county research program that marks and records every eighth nest.

Wave action produced by a tropical storm (Fay) eroded barrier island beaches on the Atlantic coast of Florida, producing cliff-like escarpments as depicted here.

Red morning sunrise on the Atlantic Ocean as seen from a barrier island. A sea turtle nest is on the beach.

This photograph, taken soon after dawn, depicts a towering offshore thundercloud as seen from a sandy beach in Florida.

Cliff-like erosion escarpment on a Florida beach. The four-to-five foot depth of lost sand exposed egg-shell fragments from a sea turtle nest.

Red morning sunrise on the Atlantic Ocean as seen from a barrier island.

Cliff-like erosion escarpment on a Florida beach. The four-to-five foot depth of lost sand exposed egg-shell fragments from a sea turtle nest.

Cliff-like erosion escarpment on a Florida beach. The four-to-five foot depth of lost sand exposed egg-shell fragments from a sea turtle nest.

The ghost crab shown here is a common resident of sandy beaches along the Florida coast.

Cliff-like erosion escarpment on a Florida beach. The four-to-five foot depth of lost sand exposed egg-shell fragments from a sea turtle nest.

Strangler fig engulfing the trunk of a Sabal palm.