Until recently, the loggerhead was the only sea turtle species known to nest on Panama City Beach.  It is a threatened species which means its population is declining and could become extinct without protection.  A full-grown loggerhead is about 3 ft long and weighs between 200 and 350 lb.  The females come ashore at night to bury about 100 leathery-skinned eggs, each the size of a ping-pong ball.  An endangered green turtle nested on Panama City Beach on 20 June 2002, the first ever on this beach!  The nesting season officially runs from May 1 through October 31.  On Panama City Beach, the first nests are laid near the end of May and the last in mid-August.  Hatchlings first emerge in late July, and hatching usually continues through October unless storms wash the nests away.