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Tag: Bradenton Beach sea turtle nests

Loggerhead killed by car leaves behind 84 hatchlings

Loggerhead killed by car leaves behind 84 hatchlings

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Outdoors, Sea turtles.

BRADENTON BEACH – The nest laid by a loggerhead sea turtle that was struck and killed by a car on Gulf Drive in June hatched earlier this week, producing 84 hatchlings.

“When we conducted the nest excavation, we found one live hatchling in the nest, which was released immediately,” Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Executive Director Kristen Mazzarella wrote in an Aug. 23 email.

Mazzarella said it was a great hatch success and is hopeful that the turtle’s legacy will continue.

“At this nest, which was situated in the picnic area of Coquina Beach near lifeguard tower 6, we placed a dedication plaque to let people know how, thanks to the awareness this turtle brought about lighting issues, many more turtles were saved from her fate,” she wrote.

After her death, the streetlights that led the turtle into the road were turned off until a turtle-safe solution could be put in their place.

MANY NEST EXCAVATIONS

There have been no new crawls this week, but Mazzarella said they are possible at this time of year.

“What we have been doing a lot of is nest excavations on nests that should’ve hatched around the time of Tropical Storm Debby,” she wrote. “When nests reach 70 days, they are considered overdue and we try our best to do an inventory on them. This is sometimes a difficult task because we don’t know exactly where the nest is without the benefit of a depression from a hatch.”

Volunteers must dig the area within the nest stakes to find the nest chamber. Sometimes, Turtle Watch volunteers may find unhatched eggs that have stopped developing or hatched shells indicating that a hatch occurred but went unnoticed due to inundation from the storm.

“The good news is that we are finding that many of these nests did indeed hatch,” she wrote. “This is reflected in the increase in hatched nest numbers over last week.”

HATCHLING RESCUE

Turtle Watch volunteer Kathy Noonan found and rescued two loggerhead hatchlings that had fallen into a hole left on the beach.

“One of the many hazards we educate the public about is holes dug in the sand,” Mazzarella wrote. “These holes can entrap hatchlings on their way to the water and, unless they are found by someone, they may perish in the hole from dehydration or be picked up by a predator.”

With the loss of more than 180 nests to Tropical Storm Debby, it is even more important to make sure the remaining hatchlings make it to the Gulf, she said, reminding beachgoers to fill in holes in the sand before leaving the beach for the day.

Sea turtle nests disturbed at Coquina Beach

Sea turtle nests disturbed at Coquina Beach

Written by Leslie Lake on . Posted in Outdoors, Sea turtles.

BRADENTON BEACH – Upon seeing a group of six people digging around a marked turtle nest at the south end of Coquina Beach on Saturday, two early morning walkers did exactly what they were supposed to do – contact authorities.

“We saw a group of people digging with their hands into the nest. They were laughing and taking selfies and when we told them that it was illegal they became really rude,” one of the observers said.

The observers, Charlotte and Teri, contacted the Bradenton Beach Police Department non-emergency line.

“If they would have said, ‘Sorry, we didn’t know,’ I would have walked away, but instead they continued on to disturb two more nests,” Teri said.

An officer came out and contacted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

“There were four women and two men,” Charlotte said. “One of the women was put in handcuffs.”

After about an hour, FWC officers arrived, the women said.

“FWC showed up and I showed them the nests and he said he wanted me to sign the report,” Teri said. “When the other FWC gentlemen came over, they had a conference and said I didn’t need to sign a report, because there was no wet sand, even though you can clearly see the nest they disturbed.”

Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Executive Director Kristen Mazzarella was notified of the incident and sent a volunteer out to check the nests.

“What that tells me about the wet sand is that they didn’t dig too deeply because the sand below the surface is wet,” she said. “But you should never put your hands inside a turtle nest enclosure.”

Sea turtles are protected under the Federal Endangered Species Act and Florida’s Marine Turtle Protection Act. According to Florida law, no one may harass, disturb, take, move, sell, damage, destroy, injure or kill any marine turtle, hatchling, egg or nest.

In an email request by The Sun for comment on the incident, FWC Public Information Officer Bradley Johnson wrote the following:

“On July 13, 2024, The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), Bradenton Beach Police Department, and an FWC biologist responded to a report of a sea turtle nest disturbance on Coquina Beach. Once on scene FWC officers and biologists surveyed the nests and did not locate any evidence of the nests having been disturbed. FWC officers also spoke to the individuals who were near the nests and educated them on sea turtle nests and their protections.”

Mazzarella said the two women did the right thing by contacting authorities.

“Each of the three cities has a non-emergency telephone line,” she said. “The number for FWC is posted at each nest.”

If you see people disturbing turtles, call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Wildlife Alert hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922), or 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.