Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Director Kristen Mazzarella said the past week has been a strong one for local sea turtles and shorebirds.
“There was a great increase in the number of (turtle) crawls over last week,” she said, with the number of nests increasing from six to 48.
A colony of least terns also is doing well, according to Mazzarella.
“The number of nests in the colony has increased to 12 this week” from four last week, she said of the imperiled shorebirds.
She reminded beachgoers to fill holes in the sand and level sandcastles before leaving the beach, so sea turtles do not get trapped, and steer clear of the posted bird nesting area.
On Tuesday, May 28, Turtle Watch will present a Turtle Tracks and Shorebird Facts presentation at noon at Holmes Beach City Hall, 5801 Marina Drive.
The presentation is free and open to the public.
TURTLE TIPS
During sea turtle season, May 1 – Oct. 31, follow these tips to help turtles:
• Turn off lights visible from the beach and close blinds from sundown to sunrise; lights confuse nesting sea turtles and may cause them to go back to sea and drop their eggs in the water, where they won’t hatch. Light can also attract hatchlings away from the water.
• Don’t use flashlights, lanterns or camera flashes on the beach at night.
• Remove all beach chairs and other objects from the sand from sundown to sunrise; they can deter sea turtles from nesting and disorient hatchlings.
• Fill in the holes you dig in the sand before leaving the beach; they can trap nesting and hatching sea turtles, which cannot live long out of the water. You might also accidentally dig into an unmarked nest. To report large holes or other turtle obstacles, call:
• City of Anna Maria code enforcement — 941-708-6130, ext. 111.
• City of Bradenton Beach code enforcement — 941-778-1005, ext. 227.
• City of Holmes Beach code enforcement — 941-778-0331, ext. 260.
• Level sandcastles before leaving the beach; they can block hatchlings from the water.
• Don’t use balloons, wish lanterns or fireworks; they litter the beach and Gulf, and turtles can ingest the debris.
• Do not trim trees and plants that shield the beach from lights.
• Never touch a sea turtle; it’s the law. If you see people disturbing turtles, call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Wildlife Alert hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).
Source: Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring
NESTING NEWS
Turtle nests laid: 48 (Record: 544 in 2019)
False crawls: 39 (Record: 831 in 2010)
Nests hatched: 0 (Record: 453 in 2022)
Hatchlings hatched: 0 (Record: 35,850 in 2022)
Hatchling disorientations: 0
Adult disorientations: 0
Source: Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring
