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Sea turtle release attracts crowds Monday

Sea turtle release attracts crowds Monday

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

BRADENTON BEACH – To the delight of hundreds of spectators at Coquina Beach this morning for a publicized turtle release, loggerhead sea turtle Henrietta stopped several times as she made her way down the sand toward the water.

Once she hit the Gulf of Mexico, cheers erupted among onlookers as she took off swimming.

Commenting on the turtle’s slow walk to the water, one spectator said, “She’s tired because she just had babies.”

Henrietta was chosen for the release after having laid a nest on the beach on Saturday night.

The turtle release was sponsored by the Sea Turtle Conservancy, Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring and Hurricane Hanks.

Henrietta’s name (the female version of Henry) was chosen by Hurricane Hank’s owner, Brian Mathae.

She was outfitted with a satellite monitor and will be tracked by the Sea Turtle Conservancy in the annual Tour de Turtles race. Scheduled to begin on Aug. 1, Tour de Turtles will track individual sea turtles for approximately three months as they leave their respective nesting beaches and race to complete a “marathon.”

The competitors will swim with the goal of being the turtle to swim the furthest distance during the migration marathon.

“Research into the behavior and life cycle of marine turtles has taught us that these creatures do not generally nest and feed in the same area. We now know that sea turtles are highly migratory, often traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles between the beaches where they lay their eggs and the foraging (feeding) grounds where they spend much of their time at sea,” according to the Tour de Turtles website. “Since most research conducted on marine turtles has been carried out on nesting beaches and well over 90% of a sea turtle’s life is spent in the water, feeding, mating, migrating and doing whatever else a sea turtle does when no one is watching, we are missing important information that can help us better protect sea turtles.”

The results of the Tour de Turtles race will be posted at: https://tourdeturtles.org/

The Sun will be monitoring Henrietta’s progress and her results will be posted weekly on The Sun Facebook page.

Nesting loggerhead sea turtle struck, killed by vehicle

Sea turtle struck, killed by vehicle

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

BRADENTON BEACH – Likely disoriented by streetlights on Gulf Drive, a loggerhead sea turtle that had just nested wandered onto the road and was struck and killed by a vehicle in the early morning of June 19.

The turtle had nested in nearby sand dunes and was likely disoriented by streetlights illuminating a crosswalk, according to Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Executive Director Kristen Mazzarella.

Sea turtles use light to find their way back to the water after nesting, heading away from dark shadows and towards the brightest horizon, which is usually the light of the night sky over the water. Disorientations occur when sea turtles fail to orient towards the water and travel towards artificial light instead.

Mazzarella told The Sun that the turtle was struck near the Coquina North Boat Ramp at around 5:30 a.m.

“Nesting turtles are 25 years or older, so she was definitely an adult sea turtle,” she said. “Sea turtles produce eggs until they die, so there were many future nests she could have laid.”

The turtle died at the scene and will be taken for necropsy (an animal autopsy) by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).

“The good news is that she laid eggs before heading towards the road, so her legacy will continue,” Mazzarella said.

Sea turtles are federally protected by the federal Endangered Species Act and by state laws. In addition, local ordinances protect sea turtles by prohibiting lights that can be seen from the beach. Lights can be turned off, have red or amber (turtle-friendly) LED bulbs, or can be shielded from the beach to prevent them from disorienting sea turtles.

“The nest this turtle laid will be in danger of disorienting if the lights are not modified before the nest hatches. Last year, 105 of 404 nests disoriented on Anna Maria Island,” Mazzarella wrote in a press release, adding that Turtle Watch works with local municipalities, Florida Power and Light, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) to identify lighting problems and turtle-friendly solutions.

That area of Gulf Drive is a state road and is managed by FDOT, which did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

It is unclear whether the lights that illuminate the crosswalk are manually operated or remain lit all night.

Mazzarella said that Turtle Watch is working with the City of Bradenton Beach and FDOT to find a solution to lighting that disorients sea turtles.

“I hope this brings awareness to the problem,” she said. “I understand lights for public safety, but they can be shielded or have a change in color.”

Two days after the turtle died, Mazzarella reported that progress was made with FDOT regarding the lights in the area.

“We had a tragic loss of a nesting turtle that was hit by a car on 6/19,” Mazzarella wrote in a June 21 email. “The good news is she became an ambassador identifying lighting problems on the Island and educated the public about the issue. FDOT notified us yesterday that they are turning off the new streetlights that illuminate the crosswalks until a turtle-friendly solution can be installed. Hopefully, this will prevent any future incidents and keep the turtles safe in these areas.”

Turtle Watch officials thanked Manatee County, Mote Marine Laboratory, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office and the Bradenton Beach Police Department for assisting in the response to the turtle.

The public can report lighting violations to local code enforcement officials. If you see a sea turtle in distress on Anna Maria Island, call Turtle Watch at 941-301-8434 or the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922. For more information, visit www.islandturtlewatch.com.