NAPLES, Fla. - Sea turtles are nesting in Collier County once again, but officials are seeing fewer nests than they'd like.

"They've got those big eyes and this charisma, this mystery about them," Dave Addison of the Southwest Florida Conservatory said. He's talking about loggerhead sea turtles.

This time of the year, Addison spends his days and nights tracking the nesting patterns of the turtles in Collier County.

"They're off to a slow start," Addison told WINK News.

While the reason for the slow start isn't known, Addison says there are things you can do to help the turtles feel more comfortable coming on shore to lay their eggs in the sand.

"Use low density sodium lights to cut down on the light on the beach or just turn off the lights," Addison said.

Keeping the beaches dark helps not only the females who venture up here to build a nest, but also the babies when they hatch.

"The hatchlings is where it gets most dramatic because historically, before people were putting lights on the beaches, hatchlings find the ocean by going to the brightest point on the horizon," Addison explained.

When the lights along the beach are off, the moonlight reflecting off the water is the brightest light around, and that's the light these hatchlings will see, and follow into the water.

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