Why Leaving Only Footprints is Important to the Alabama Gulf Coast

Each year, more than 5 million visitors travel from across the country to enjoy the emerald water and white sand beaches of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.

Come and enjoy the beauty and lifestyle of our coast. We simply ask that you take with you all those happy beach memories - and leave only your footprints.

This program exists to ensure that the Alabama Gulf Coast stays beautiful for generations to come. Will you join us in keeping our beaches clean and beautiful?

While you enjoy the rest and relaxation of your beach vacation, please remember to protect our beaches and their wildlife by removing your gear from the beach every single day. 

Anything left on the beach an hour after sunset will be disposed of by the Gulf Coast's beach patrol. While these rules exist to protect our beaches and keep them clean, they are also put in place to help take care of our local wildlife - especially the sea turtle population.

The sea turtle nesting season is evident along Alabama's beaches each year from May to October. Nearly every single species of sea turtle is endangered, and by doing your part in sharing our beaches and leaving only footprints, you can help protect them in a way you never thought possible. 

A female sea turtle can nest as many as 7 times in a season - and that's a lot of sea turtles! If you see an area marked with stakes along the dunes, that is a sea turtle nest - and it's against the law to touch or disturb it due to how dangerous it is for the turtles.

Our local volunteer organization, Share the Beach, helps to ensure the safety and hatchings of the sea turtles on our Gulf Coast beaches. The program has seen an increade in the growth of nests on our beaches in recent years with the addition of the Leave Only Footprints program.

By simply filling in any holes you may have dug and removing all of your debris at the end of the day, you could make a huge difference in not only making our beaches cleaner but also helping the female turtle to find a safe place to nest.

Thank you for doing your part to help our wildlife and keep our beaches the cleanest they can be! 

Published by Shelby Berry
Monday, July 30, 2018