ANNA MARIA ISLAND – Island sea turtles are getting off to an early start as the first nest of the season on the Gulf Coast of Florida has appeared on Anna Maria Island.
“AMITW got a big surprise early this morning, finding the first loggerhead nest of the season,” Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Executive Director Kristen Mazzarella wrote in an April 18 statement.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) told Mazzarella that the AMI nest was the first found on the state’s west coast. She said it is likely the earliest nest in the history of Turtle Watch.
Turtle season officially begins on May 1 and runs through Oct. 31. Turtle Watch volunteers started to patrol on April 15 at the directive of the FWC. Days later, volunteers found the crawl.
“We are excited to start the nesting season on Anna Maria Island and look forward to a productive season protecting nests and educating the public,” said Mazzarella, who began her new job at Turtle Watch this month.
In 2022, two records were broken by local loggerhead sea turtles. The number of hatched nests in September reached 453, edging out the 2018 record of 447, and a record 35,850 hatchlings exceeded the prior record of 35,788 set in 2018.
