It may be sea turtle time, but the turtles don’t have a wristwatch.
Sea turtle nesting season in Florida is expected to wrap up Oct. 31, but Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring volunteers already know the season will go on longer.
Still, as hatchlings emerge, no new nests are expected this late in the May-October season.
“We have nests that aren’t due to hatch until November,” said Suzi Fox, executive director of AMITW. She went on to say that volunteers are still walking each morning on the island beaches looking for new nests.
While the season officially ends on Halloween, Fox asked residents to be aware of their surrounding into November. “If there’s still a marked turtle nest on the beach outside of your home, rental or business, please don’t turn on the lights. Even if we have one nest left, that could be 100 turtles,” she said.
Volunteers also are going door-to-door and to motels and rental properties to hand out information. Fox wants to make sure that incoming visitors understand how to protect the sea turtles and help reduce hatchling disorientations that occur when lights are visible from the shoreline and nesting area.
Fox said this late in the season, some people assume the nests have hatched, making the change from turtle-friendly amber lightbulbs back to white bulbs.
“We want to keep a real close eye on everything,” Fox said, urging residents who spot turtle light violations to report them to local code enforcement.
“It’s important to go right up until the last minute,” Fox said.
All of AMITW’s turtle nests for the 2015 season were adopted. Fox said the organization is working to collect the plaques from the hatched nests and then to send the signs to the adopters.
And AMITW is taking advance nest adoption orders for the 2016 season. The cost to adopt a nest is $100. The tax-deductible donation includes a video of the nest, a certificate, letters of thanks, data from the nest and a wooden plaque.
For more information, visit islandturtlewatch.com or contact AMITW at 941-778-5638.