ANNA MARIA ISLAND – 2023 was a busy year for the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Turtle Stranding and Salvage Team.
From January 2023 through January 2024, the team responded to 20 calls for stranded sea turtles. Those responses included nine loggerheads, 10 green turtles and one unidentified species due to distance from the shoreline.
Two of the turtles were rescued alive and one of them was released back into Island waters in good health, according to a press release from Turtle Watch Stranding Coordinator Karen Anderson.
The turtle nesting season begins on May 1 and ends Oct. 31, but Turtle Watch volunteers are working to protect sea turtles all year long through its stranding and salvage team.
Strandings are often reported by boaters and beachgoers, and the Turtle Watch team is trained to respond to calls on or near Anna Maria Island and its surrounding waters.
“The AMITW Stranding and Salvage Team holds a Marine Turtle Permit issued by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) which requires special training to work with endangered species,” according to Anderson.
A stranding occurs when a sick, injured or dead sea turtle floats on the surface of the water and tidal currents may push it on or near the shoreline.
Anderson wrote that there are a variety of reasons that sea turtles strand, including plastic ingestion, boat strikes, entanglement in fishing gear (fishing line, nets and hooks), shark bites, viral or parasitic infection, diseases, red tide and cold water temperatures.
Some of these threats are natural, but many are caused by humans and are preventable if we follow a few simple guidelines:
• Place trash in its proper place;
• Follow Coast Guard-approved safe boating practices;
• Use vigilance and wear polarized sunglasses while boating to avoid striking marine life.
