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Tag: turtle nesting season

Turtle nesting record broken

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

ANNA MARIA ISLAND – A 42-year record for sea turtle nests was shattered on July 2 when Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring volunteers counted 2024’s 546th nest, exceeding the 2019 record of 544 nests for the whole season.

“We broke our all-time annual nest number count this week, and considering turtles should be nesting through late August/early September, we will be breaking it by quite a bit by the end of the nesting season,” Executive Director Kristen Mazzarella wrote in a July 5 email. “We are very excited about this.”

The sea turtle nesting season extends from May 1 to Oct. 31, but began early.

Mazzarella said that Turtle Watch volunteers have been putting in extra hours on the beach and painting nest stakes to mark the new nests.

“We are excited that so many sea turtles have decided to nest on Anna Maria,” she said. “We can thank the conservation efforts of patrollers that protected nests 25 years ago for producing the hatchlings that are coming ashore (as adults) to nest in such high numbers this year.”

Loggerhead sea turtles take 25-35 years to reach maturity.

Turtle Watch recorded the first nest hatch of this season on June 29 in Anna Maria, and, as of July 5, there have been seven nest hatches.

“When they emerge from the sand, baby turtles (hatchlings) follow the brightest horizon to find their way to the water. Artificial lighting that can be seen from the beach can draw hatchlings away from the Gulf and into harm’s way,” according to Mazzarella. “In order to ensure that this incredible number of nests results in a record number of hatchlings making it to the water, we need to do our best to provide a turtle-friendly beach.”

Youngster raises money for turtles and shorebirds

Youngster raises money for turtles and shorebirds

Written by Tom Vaught on . Posted in Outdoors, Sea turtles.

Spencer Quinlivan is a 9 1/2-year-old animal lover from Pinellas County with a soft spot for sea turtles and shorebirds. He visits the Island regularly, staying in a house owned by his grandparents, and quickly became aware of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring.

A few weeks ago, he decided to raise money as a school project by selling lemonade, bananas and cookies on Pinellas Trail. According to his father, Patrick Quinlivan, it was cool and windy, and not too many people needed to cool down.

“Luckily, there was a busy police station with a lot of foot traffic,” Patrick Quinlivan said. “They all came by and if they weren’t thirsty, they just donated money. He ended up with $215.22.”

The family visited the Island a couple of weeks ago and found Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring Director Suzi Fox, who was impressed with Spencer. She arranged a visit to the Manatee County Marine Rescue headquarters, on Sunday, April 28, thanks to rescue chief Joe Westerman, and Spencer got a Turtle Watch ATV ride down the beach in addition to the Marine Rescue ride personnel Morgan Bakulski and A.J. Nelson gave him.

Fox took the money and applied it to AMITW’s education fund, and Spencer went home with a box of promotional and educational items.

“This is what is so right about our Manatee County,” Fox said.

Spencer said he learned a lot about sea turtles.

“I found out that the wrong lights at night are dangerous,” he said. “We have to use the right lights so the turtles don’t come to the shore instead of out to sea.”

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