Network for Endangered Sea Turtles

What is a Turtle Crawl?

A turtle crawl is the unique pattern in the sand left by a sea turtle when the turtle crawls to or from the sea.  Some people say they look like a tractor tread.

Turtle crawls are key to helping sea turtles because the crawls tell us we were visited by one of these special creatures.

A turtle crawl can lead straight to a nest and then back out to sea a turtle crawl may wind around the beach when the sea turtle cannot find a suitable place to lay her eggs or a sea turtle may wander before and after nesting to mask the location of her eggs.



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