Ponce Inlet -- Staff members at the Marine Science Center in Ponce Inlet thought that they were done with intensive sea-turtle rehabilitation work when they sent more than 1,600 baby turtles out to sea Friday.
It turns out that Mother Nature had other ideas.
More than 1,100 turtles have been collected on the shore since Friday, most of them showing up on beaches Monday.
The turtles, 3 to 4 inches long, are brought to the sand by strong northeastern winds.
The turtles that washed ashore Monday were not the ones that were returned to seaweed beds in the Gulf Stream late last week, according to center staff.
The new babies, mostly green sea turtles and loggerhead sea turtles from the Port Orange area, also will be taken back to the ocean once the seas calm down.