Rare Daytime Egg-Laying Turtle Draws Florida Crowd

St. George Island, Fla. — On this thin resort island in the Florida Panhandle, sea turtles are iconic creatures adored by residents and vacationers.

Visitors see stuffed toy turtles in every souvenir shop. Those renting houses and condos find signs and stickers reminding them to turn off outside lights at night so as not to disorient turtles that come ashore to lay eggs. Beach signs issue a stern warning: Disturbing a turtle nest will incur a fine, plus the wrath of the turtle-loving state government.

But vacationers — or even residents — rarely see a turtle in the flesh.

Sea turtles are a threatened species that roam the seas except when they return to the site of their birth to lay eggs during nesting season, May to August. Nesting, and the hatching two months later, always happens at night, when nobody is around to watch.

Well, almost always.