At the halfway point of turtle nesting season, scientists at Mote Marine Laboratory say things are looking up for the sea turtle population. The number of nests are around the same as last year’s record-breaking number, and they say the number of false crawls is down 32%. Sarasota County has the highest number of turtle nests for the Gulf Coast. As of July 8, Longboat Key was home to 999 nests, Lido Beach was home to 112 and Siesta Key was home to 488. At this point in 2016, those beaches barely had half that number.
