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Tropical Storm Colin's storm surge reached the dunes. Most, if not all, of the 58 loggerhead (Cc) nests in the are were washed over if not washed away completely.(Photo: St. George Island Volunteer Turtlers)
TALLAHASSEE —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>A storm surge spurred by Colin sent water toward<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the St. George Island State Park boardwalk and wiped out scores of endangered loggerhead turtle nests filled with eggs. The St. George Volunteer Turtlers reported on their Facebook page that nearly all of the 58 nests they've been monitoring on the island had been washed away —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>possibly destroying thousands of turtle eggs laid on the barrier island.
A park ranger said she didn’t see any of the nests get washed away but did see the water surging under the boardwalk,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>which is separated from the ocean by about 20 yards of beach. St. George Island is southeast of Apalachicola and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>roughly where Colin made landfall Monday with 50 mph winds and heavy rain.
“We have high waves with lots of white caps,” said Kathryn King, a St. George ranger. Monday was not a day to be at the beach, she said. “We got our red flags up, there’s no swimming today.”
USA TODAY
Tropical Storm Colin: 'We've been through worse'
The surge also took out nests farther east at Alligator Point.
A loggerhead sea turtle makes its way back to the Gulf after laying its eggs in a nest dug into the sand.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)
“I watched two nests get washed away. One was formed yesterday. Just laid the eggs yesterday,” said Bill Wargo, director of the Alligator Point Sea Turtle Patrol.
Wargo said the surge was strong enough to wash a loggerhead onto the highway. A family of six from Cincinnati helped him try to rescue the nearly 3-foot long turtle. It had been battered by the rocks lining the shore and did not survive.
Loggerheads generally nest between April and September. Female turtles return to their nesting beach every two years and can build up to 14 nests containing as many as 100 eggs, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The FWC counted 608 nests last year along the Franklin coast.
Follow James Call on Twitter: @CallTallahassee
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