ANNA MARIA ISLAND – The traditional May 1 start of the sea turtle nesting season is now April 15, according to Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring, whose volunteers began monitoring the beaches this week for signs of nesting.
Residents and beachgoers can help improve the chances of successful turtle nesting and hatching this season by turning off lights visible from the beach and closing blinds or drapes 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; they can disorient turtles.
Remove all beach chairs and other objects from the sand from sundown to sunrise; they can deter sea turtles from nesting, entrap them 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.
Avoid trimming 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).
A series of Turtle Talks about living with sea turtles is being planned for May at Holmes Beach City Hall, with dates to be announced soon, Turtle Watch Executive Director Kristen Mazzarella said.
Funding for the educational outreach program comes in part from the Suzi L. Fox Adopt-a-Nest Program. For a $125 tax-deductible donation, a plaque dedicated to a person or organization of the donor’s choice is placed on a sea turtle nest that has been laid on an Island beach. When the nest hatches and data is collected, an adoption package is sent to the donor containing a personalized adoption certificate and the location of the nest, the handmade wooden plaque, information about the nest written on the back of the plaque and a letter of appreciation from the volunteers working on the nesting beaches.
“We do not let you know when your adopted nest will hatch. This is protected information that we do not give out,” according to the Turtle Watch website.
Plaques will be placed on the beach between mid-June through August and remain on the nests for the approximately two-month incubation period.
