HOLMES BEACH – Bortie Too has laid her second nest on Anna Maria Island at 66th Street, Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Director Suzi Fox says.
According to her satellite tag tracking chart, Bortie Too checked out Siesta Key beach as a prospective nesting spot first, but stopped short of coming ashore and swam back to Anna Maria Island, where she laid an earlier nest on June 21.
The loggerhead sea turtle has traveled 129 miles since being tagged and released after nesting on Coquina Beach last month.
She will compete in the Sea Turtle Conservancy’s 12th Annual Tour de Turtles beginning Aug. 1. The annual event is part of the Conservancy’s research project tracking satellite-tagged turtles to determine where and how far they migrate. The group uses satellite telemetry to track turtles released from beaches in Florida, Costa Rica, Panama and Nevis.
Bortie Too is sponsored by the Conservancy, Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring, Waterline Marina Resort in Holmes Beach and Bortell’s Lounge in Anna Maria, for which she is named.