BY AMI TURTLE WATCH
Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring started patrols of Anna Maria Island for their 43rd sea turtle nesting season on April 15.
Although the official start of nesting season is May 1, in recent years, the first nests have been found on Anna Maria Island in April.
In 2025, there were 544 nests and 827 false crawls, mostly made by loggerheads, but including 16 green sea turtle nests and 30 green turtle false crawls. This was the third highest year for the number of nests laid in one season. AMI Turtle Watch documented 424 nests hatched and 30,899 hatchlings were produced – over 10,000 more than in 2024.
Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton decimated the vegetation and dune system on Anna Maria Island in 2024. Dunes and vegetation block artificial light from being seen from the beach and create a barrier for sea turtles. Last year, lights that had not been an issue in years past, were visible from the beach causing at least 181 disorientation events (where sea turtles traveled landward towards artificial lighting instead of seaward towards the water) involving 4,000- 10,000 baby sea turtles. On many occasions sea turtles were found in the road or swimming pools.
Thankfully, people called the AMI Turtle Watch 24-hour hotline and the nighttime hatchling response team responded and saved many of these wayward hatchlings.
AMI Turtle Watch wants the community to be proactive and prevent sea turtles from wandering into the roads towards artificial light. They urge residents and visitors to check their properties for lights that can be seen from the beach. If you can see the lights from the beach, they have potential to disorient sea turtles. AMI Turtle Watch recommends using red or amber LED lights with shields, blocking the lights with vegetation or shutting the lights off at night to keep sea turtles safe.
If you see a sea turtle in distress on Anna Maria Island, please call Turtle Watch at 941-301-8434 or FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922. For more information, please visit www.islandturtlewatch.com.
