Sea turtle nesting season on Anna Maria Island is peaking.
Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring reported 459 nests as of July 30, the most documented on the island since AMITW began keeping records in 1997.
With the first nests laid May 12, and an average incubation of 61 days, flotillas of hatchlings are starting to emerge — mostly at night — and make their way to the Gulf of Mexico.
Nests average 100 eggs, and while many hatchlings make it to sea, occasional stragglers get turned around and head toward an artificial light source away from the water — a disorientation.
Bradenton Beach code officer Gail Garneau received a call July 27 from people staying in a vacation rental who said their neighbors were harboring a loggerhead hatchling found in their pool, and were keeping it in an ice chest outside. She also was told people were allegedly handling the hatchling — a potential federal offense.
Garneau located the hatchling, warned the people who were keeping it, and contacted Suzi Fox, executive director of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring.
If a sea turtle hatchling is found in a pool, it is brought to Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota for rehabilitation, according to Fox. Once at Mote, hatchlings are placed in a float tank to regain strength before being released into the Gulf of Mexico.
“It’s hatchling season,” Fox said July 27. Fox advised people in beachfront properties that if they “leave for the evening, close drapes and blinds and turn off porch lights visible from the beach.”
Additionally, Fox said if a hatchling is discovered in a garage, swimming pool or on the street, put it in a bucket with damp sand, no water, and place a wet towel over the top of the bucket. She said not to expose the hatchling to air conditioning or sunlight and call AMITW to pick it up the hatchling for rehabilitation.
To report a disoriented hatchling, or a sick, injured or dead sea turtle, contact Fox at suzilfox@gmail.com or 941-778-5638.