Beach groundwater and nearshore hydrodynamic data were collected during a field experiment along two dissipative beach transects on Galveston Island, Texas, in the fall of 2023. The monitored beaches serve as nesting habitat for the critically endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle. Conditions ranged from calm to stormy, with two storms occurring during the experiment, inundating the entire beach up to the dune toe. Collected hydrodynamic data include readings from pressure loggers submerged in the foreshore and mounted in groundwater wells in the backshore, data from two wave buoys about 1.5 km offshore, and GoPro timestacks of the instantaneous waterline (wave runup). Other collected data include bathymetry and topography surveys, subsurface temperature and moisture content readings, and sediment characteristics. This comprehensive dataset can be used to (1) study relevant beach inundation and groundwater processes, including their effect on the local ecosystem (e.g., repeated flooding of sea turtle nests), (2) study the propagation of nearshore hydrodynamic processes into the beach matrix and groundwater table, and (3) validate existing beach groundwater models.@en

Climate change and human activity threaten sea turtle nesting beaches through increased flooding and erosion. Understanding the environmental characteristics that enable nesting can aid to preserve and expand these habitats. While numerous local studies exist, a comprehensive global analysis of environmental influences on the distribution of sea turtle nesting habitats remains largely unexplored. Here, we relate the distribution of global sea turtle nesting to 22 coastal indicators, spanning hydrodynamic, atmospheric, geophysical, habitat, and human processes. Using state-of-the-art global datasets and a novel 50-km-resolution hexagonal coastline grid (Coastgons), we employ machine learning to identify spatially homogeneous patterns in the indicators and correlate these to the occurrence of nesting grounds. Our findings suggest sea surface temperature, tidal range, extreme surges, and proximity to coral and seagrass habitats significantly influence global nesting distribution. Low tidal ranges and low extreme surges appear to be particularly favorable for individual species, likely due to reduced nest flooding. Other indicators, previously reported as influential (e.g., precipitation and wind speed), were not as important in our global-scale analysis. Finally, we identify new, potentially suitable nesting regions for each species. On average, 23 % of global coastal regions between - 39 ^∘ and 48 ^∘ latitude could be suitable for nesting, while only 7 % is currently used by turtles, showing that the realized niche is significantly smaller than the fundamental niche, and that there is potential for sea turtles to expand their nesting habitat. Our results help identify suitable nesting conditions, quantify potential hazards to global nesting habitats, and lay a foundation for nature-based solutions to preserve and potentially expand these habitats.

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