SARASOTA, Fla. ( WWSB ) - Living on the Suncoast, you may have seen a sea turtle or two. You’ve definitely seen their nests marked off at the beach.

This year, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium has told ABC7 that they have recorded the highest number of nests they’ve ever seen.

Mote has been tracking sea turtle nests since the 1980s.

This season has been record-breaking with a total of 5,735 nests in Sarasota County. This breaks the record set in 2024 of 4,369 nests.

Dr. Jake Lasala, the Manager of Mote’s Sea Turtle Conservation and Research Program has been working with sea turtles for over 16 years.

“The monitoring started happening before I was born so to see the population grow and grow and grow and grow and grow is very satisfying,” he said.

“Not only from a personal stand poi

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