Turtle Talks a hit
CINDY LANE | SUN
Kids from the Anna Maria Island Community Center
enjoyed the Tuesday Turtle Talk at the beach last week.
Kids from the Anna Maria Island Community Center had a fun day at the beach learning about sea turtle nests up close during the first of several Tuesday Turtle Talks.
Suzi Fox and Glenn Wiseman, of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring, showed them how to spot incoming and outgoing flipper tracks in the sand and locate the nest at the point of the “v.”
They demonstrated how they dig into the nest to verify that the turtle has laid eggs and let them help pound in the four stakes around the nest and connect them with pink tape to protect the nest from beachgoers.
The kids also helped fill in a large hole beachgoers had left behind, which could trap turtles coming ashore to nest or hatchlings trying to make it to the sea.
The new partnership between the two organizations is a natural, Fox said, adding that the aim of the talks is to teach a new generation about the local habitat shared by people, sea turtles and shorebirds.
This week’s activity focuses on shorebirds nesting in Bradenton Beach, followed by the final talk of the month on Tuesday, May 26, at the Center.
From June through August, Tuesday Turtle Talks will move to the Annie Silver Community Center on 23rd Street one block off Gulf Drive in Bradenton Beach from 10 to 11 a.m.
