PANAMA CITY BEACH — The Beach continues to see a lot of activity this sea turtle nesting season. 

According to Kennard Watson, president of Panama City Beach Turtle Watch, his group as of Wednesday had tagged 43 nests this season, 16 more than were found during the entire 2021 season. 

"It's really been exciting to see the active nesting and the absence of storms, which has led to a good hatching season so far," Watson said. "We (also) have a great group of volunteers and surveyors who have been out there on the beach at all hours of the night making sure these animals make it to the water safely."

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As a local nonprofit organization, PCB Turtle Watch identifies and protects sea turtle nests along about 18 miles of beaches from St. Andrews State Park to Camp Helen State Park. 

Sea turtle nesting season spans from May 1 to Oct. 31.

Watson, who noted 19 nests were found in July alone, said all but one of the nests found by members of his group so far this year were from loggerhead sea turtles. The other was from a green sea turtle.

"July is historically a busy time for us for nesting turtles," Watson said. "The exception was last year, when nesting dropped off, so we're back to a more active nesting cycle."

July also was when sea turtle eggs began to hatch in the Panama City Beach area. 

More than 600 turtles hatched from seven local nests during the month, Watson said. However, practically all were disoriented by beachfront lighting and needed help navigating across the sand to the Gulf of Mexico. 

"We've had nearly 100 percent disorientation of the hatchlings that have emerged so far from our nests," he said. "It just continues to reinforce what we've known for many years: Beachfront lighting is the single most serious threat to sea turtles on our beaches."