Boca Raton shore might be leatherback nursery this year

Two months into turtle nesting season, it looks like five miles of Boca Raton’s shoreline could be poised for a leatherback hatchling boom, according to the city’s Gumbo Limbo Nature Center.

Already, 12 leatherbacks, the world’s largest sea turtle species capable of reaching 1,000 pounds, have come ashore for nesting, reports  David Anderson, Gumbo Limbo’s sea turtle conservation coordinator. That compares with the 21 leatherback nests the Boca shoreline got during last year’s turtle nesting season that runs through October.

Sea turtle nests are closely watched and guarded as the ones that come ashore here are critically endangered or vulnerable.

– Anne Geggis, Florida Politics