The first sea turtle hatchlings of the season are off and swimming in the Gulf of Mexico.
It’s now time for Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring volunteers to see what those hatchlings left behind.
The excavation of the first marine turtle nest of the season revealed 109 eggs, with 93 hatched and 16 unhatched eggs.
Three days after a nest has hatched, AMITW volunteers dig in the sand to discover what remains in the nest. “This is where all the nest data is collected,” AMITW volunteer Glenn Wiseman said.
During the excavation process, volunteers carefully dig into the nest, placing the contents into piles to be counted. Hatched shells, unhatched shells, live hatchlings still in the nest, live and dead pipped hatchlings all are counted.
Pipped hatchlings are those half in and half out of the shell.
The tiny turtles scramble through the nest to the surface in the dark of night and make their first — some, their only — trek on land, guided by the twinkle of stars and moon on the water to their forever home in the Gulf of Mexico.
All of the turtle shells that are 50 percent or more intact are counted, while those that are less intact are not counted — per state guidelines — to ensure consistency in nest data.
According to Wiseman, there are several reasons why eggs might not hatch, including being unfertilized, drowning as a result of too much water flooding the nest or failing to develop for various reasons.
In rare cases, a nest might be excavated before signs of emergence are observed.
“If a nest doesn’t hatch after 72 days of incubation, we will dig in slowly and, if we see hatchlings, will cover it back up and wait until it hatches,” Wiseman said. “Sometimes a nest will take on water and all the hatchlings or eggs will not be viable. We will still do the same count and record the data unless the nest is too decayed to inventory.”
He went on to say that this type of issue is more common after a large storm, one that leaves standing water on the nest and drowns the eggs or hatchlings. Sea turtle eggs are water permeable.
“The nests can take a few wash-overs, but not standing water,” Wiseman said.
There also is the rare instance of a nest being excavated immediately if the hatchlings track from the nest show disorientation, or heading away from the surf. By excavating the nest immediately, AMITW volunteers can determine if all of the wandering hatchlings have been accounted for or if some are lost.
AMITW’s work with wandering sea turtles doesn’t stop with the hatchlings.
AMITW executive director Suzi Fox, working with Cassie Edelman from Clearwater Aquarium Sea Turtle Program, planned to release Valusia July 14 at Coquina Beach.
Valusia was rescued by boaters who found her stranded off Anna Maria Island in May 2014. The turtle was handed off to AMITW for rescue and then taken to Clearwater for rehab. Once she was ready to return to the Gulf, she was to be brought home to Anna Maria Island to the water.
“We still have troubled waters here, but good things are happening,” Fox said.