Miami Beach Police officers got a hands-on lesson Wednesday in an unlikely skill: saving baby sea turtles.
The city's Environment & Sustainability Department led MBPD officers through a refresher training on Wednesday, Aug. 5, focused on sea turtle hatchling disorientation, covering what causes it, how to spot it and how to respond without harming the federally protected animals, the City of Miami Beach said.
The training comes during peak nesting season. Miami Beach hosts three protected species (loggerhead, green and leatherback turtles), and the city's nesting season runs April 1 through Oct. 31.
Why hatchlings get lost
Artificial lighting is the main culprit. Hatchlings instinctively crawl toward the brightest horizon, which on a natural beach means the ocean. On a developed coastline like Collins Avenue, hotel lights, streetlamps and condo windows can lure them inland instead.
The problem is not small. An estimated 100,000 hatchlings are disoriented by artificial lighting in Florida each year, according to the Sea Turtle Conservancy. Miami-Dade County's own Sea Turtle Conservation Program was created in 1980 specifically because disoriented hatchlings were turning up along A1A in Miami Beach.
About 600 nests are laid on Miami-Dade beaches annually, each producing roughly 100 hatchlings. Only an estimated one in 1,000 survives to adulthood. Disoriented hatchlings face dehydration, exhaustion, predators and passing cars.
What officers and residents should do
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission advises anyone who finds a misdirected hatchling to carry it to a dark section of beach and let it walk into the surf on its own. Hatchlings that don't crawl vigorously can be placed directly in the water. Local environmental agencies should be notified in either case.
The city posted a companion reminder on Aug. 4 warning beachgoers that it is illegal to harm or harass sea turtles, their nests or hatchlings under what the city called the Florida Marine Turtle Protection Act and the federal Endangered Species Act.
Lighting rules and upcoming event
The Miami Beach City Commission updated its Turtle Nesting Protection Ordinance in October 2024, expanding it to cover interior lighting visible from the beach at hotels and commercial properties and restricting fireworks to barges along the city's seven-plus miles of beachfront.
In May 2025, the city received its second Florida Sea Turtle License Plate Grant to expand its "Flip the Switch" campaign, with Phase II targeting 12 oceanfront properties and beach concessionaires.
The next public conservation event is a Flip the Switch beach cleanup on Thursday, Aug. 13, at 1 Street Beach from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., hosted by Miami Beach Rising Above, MORAES of South Florida and the Hilton Bentley Hotel. RSVPs are available at MBRisingAbove.com/Events.
How to report
Residents who find a sick, injured or disoriented sea turtle or hatchling should call the FWC 24-hour wildlife hotline at 1-888-404-3922 (or dial *FWC from a cell phone) or the Miami-Dade Sea Turtle Conservation Program stranding line at 305-310-3046.
