"Alligator Harbor is one of the world's largest feeding grounds for the Kemp's ridley which is the rarest and most endangered of all marine turtles. The area's abundance of blue crabs, jellyfish, shellfish and sea grass provide an important food source for all sea turtles. The unspoiled waters and beaches are valuable breeding and nesting grounds for marine sea turtles. Alligator Harbor, in addition to being a valuable natural resource, is also archaeologically rich with several Miccosukee / Seminole Indian artifacts and burial mounds surrounding the harbor."

Bill Wargo, Coordinator, Alligator Point Sea Turtle Patrol

Location:

Franklin County

Acreage:

14,184 acres of sovereign submerged lands

Contact:

Office of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas
3900 Commonwealth Blvd., MS 235
Tallahassee, FL 32399-3000
(850) 245-2094
FloridaCoasts@dep.state.fl.us

Download a fact sheet. (pdf - 1.65 MB)

• Alligator Harbor supports a variety of commercial and recreational species of fish and invertebrates.
   
• Valuable habitat includes seagrass meadows, salt marshes, oyster bars, and beaches.
   
• A major forage area for migratory birds, in particular for trans-gulf migrants in the fall and spring
   
• Clam aquaculture sites were established in 2002 and are producing a very valuable product for Florida's economy.
   
• Migratory species include piping plovers, semipalmated plovers, least terns, peregrine falcons and a variety of hawks.
   
• Local species include American oystercatchers, black skimmers, snowy plovers, royal terns and brown pelicans.