Tuesday morning, dozens of sea turtle hatchlings were trapped in sargassum seaweed mounds in a 1.5 mile section of beach between Delray Beach and Gulf Stream, Florida. The just-hatched sea turtles were trying to make it from their nests in the sand to the ocean when they became ensnared in the thick, wide and spongy strip of sargassum seaweed. In a typical year, the seaweed, which has been unusually dense and persistent since May, appears and disappears but never sticks around for weeks on end as it has this year.

Local residents who find sea turtle hatchlings are eager to help them make it the last yard or two to the water, but they’re confused about how they can help and whether or not they’re allowed to in the first place. Trained and permitted sea turtle conservationists stake out and monitor the nests during the nearly two months it takes the eggs to hatch. A few days after signs that hatchlings have emerged from a nest appear, the conservationists carefully excavate the nest, count the number of empty eggs and place any stragglers that they find in the nest in the sand and allow them to waddle from land to sea. (Note: The hatchlings in this video were released by a conservationist.)

Some good Samaritans who find hatchlings trapped in the seaweed have set them free in a similar fashion, but it’s not without risk. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission’s website clearly states that it’s against the law for residents to transfer the hatchlings. According to the commission website: “Florida Statutes restrict the take, possession, disturbance, mutilation, destruction, selling, transference, molestation, and harassment of marine turtles, nests or eggs. Protection is also afforded to marine turtle habitat. A specific authorization from Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) staff is required to conduct scientific, conservation, or educational activities that directly involve marine turtles in or collected from Florida, their nests, hatchlings or parts thereof, regardless of applicant's possession of any federal permit under the Florida Marine Turtle Permit Rule (Chapter 68E-1, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C.)).” The commission recommends that anyone who finds a sea turtle hatchling in distress call its hotline at *FWC

With sea turtles hatching on beaches all along the Central and South Florida coastline, it’s safe to assume that hundreds of sea turtle hatchlings are becoming trapped in sargassum seaweed each and every day. When they’re trapped, they’re at the mercy of the hot sun, birds, dogs, crabs and beach grooming equipment. Local residents want to know if the commission plans to change the regulations in light of the new and enduring threat sargassum seaweed poses to the endangered sea turtles. An email sent yesterday to ask the commission for written guidance has not yet been answered. (Reporters who cover this issue should follow up with the commission.)

This is the first summer frequent beachgoers can remember that sargassum has washed ashore in such large volumes and stayed for so long. Scientists blame the sargassum megablooms that are inundating and burying beaches in the Caribbean, Yucatan Peninsula and South Florida on agricultural runoff and fertilizer feeding the seaweed while seas warmed by climate change provide it with an optimal growing environment. With no end to this situation in sight, it’s likely sargassum seaweed inundations are here to stay for the foreseeable future in South Florida.