ST AUGUSTINE BEACH -- Boats on shore and ghost crabs have become her enemies.

They are two factors that can hurt her babies.

Evelyn Stauber is a guardian angel of sea turtles. For 13 years she has driven on St. Johns County shores during turtle season looking for nests to protect.

"The best part is watching them go to the water," Stauber said smiling. "They look like little ants."

Stauber is on the lookout weekend mornings, driving St. Augustine Beach from May until August. Her truck reads, St. Johns Wildlife Care Sea Turtle Patrol on the side.

"It looks like a bulldozer went up the dune," Stauber said describing the easily distinguishable tracks each turtle leaves.

Loggerhead turtles are the most common in the area. They leave alternating marks. Green turtles are more rare, and leave side-by-side markings.

In the 13 years Stauber has been on turtle patrol, she has only seen the markings of a leatherback once. Something must have scared her off the beach, because she didn't leave eggs, Stauber said.

Leatherbacks are about 6-feet wide, so their tracks are unmistakable, she added.

Stauber became involved with turtle patrol after she saw a St. Johns Sheriff's Office deputy moving eggs from Vilano Beach one day.

"I was so upset because I couldn't see the babies," she said laughing.

Since then, she has seen babies and mothers.

One day, she was called because a 150-pound turtle was in the dunes and they thought it couldn't get back. She went out to help, but knew she wouldn't be able to move such a heavy turtle.

Eventually, the turtle climbed back over the dune to the ocean.

Last year, there were only five nesting areas in St. Augustine Beach. But, Stauber has seen as many as 22 there.

"They don't like the sugar sand as much as the coquina," Stauber said.

Many turtles nest on Vilano Beach, the area she used to patrol.

Often her grandchildren, Wayne, 13, and Tiffany, 6, accompany her on patrol.

Saturday, Wayne marked the GPS coordinates of the first nest.

Stauber coordinates 12 volunteers to watch over parts of the beach during the week.

Diana Justice, one of the volunteers, spotted the first turtle nest near the Dondanville Road entrance Wednesday.

The nest is now blocked off by orange tape and a sign warning people not to disturb the protected eggs.

Justice also spotted a "false crawl" and speculated that it may have been from the same turtle. Sometimes the turtles don't like an area and look for a better place, she said.

Justice has volunteered during turtle season to take morning walks for five years. She said the most exciting part is getting to see the turtles hatch. However, she has seen the turtles crawl toward lighting from homes too many times.

"So often the babies will hatch and go straight into land and into someone's garage," she said.

A county ordinance and beach lights officer try to protect the turtles by restricting certain lights or direction of light from beach front homes.

Turtle patrol volunteers monitor the nests. They also move any eggs that will be harmed by traffic, dredging or water.

Forrest Penny is stewardship coordinator for the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve who has studied the turtles.

"They are all declining species," Penny said.

Loss of habitat to beach front property has affected the turtles, he said. Light pollution and beach erosion has also affected the population.

"Be respectful of their needs and how easily they can be disturbed and sent back out to the ocean," Penny said.

Lighting restrictions

St. Johns County has an ordinance that restricts lighting on beach front homes during turtle season.

After the turtles hatch, they use the lighting of the moon bouncing off the water to guide themselves to the ocean. If they spot lighting from homes, it can disorient and misdirect the turtles.

Aquatics Superintendent Dave Williams said the county sends out letters to all beach front property owners to let them know about turtle season. Last year, not many citations for violations were issued, he added. Certain lights are acceptable. A basic rule is that if you can stand on the beach and cast a shadow, the light needs to be changed, turned off or redirected, Williams said.

Turtle facts