The official end of loggerhead nesting season on Anna Maria Island is Oct. 31.
For now, Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring volunteers are collecting data as nests continue to hatch on island beaches.
As of Sept. 13, 84 nests remained to hatch on the island out of 539 laid since May 1, and about 23,841 hatchlings had made their way to the Gulf of Mexico — another record-breaking season for the sea turtles on Anna Maria Island.
Suzi Fox, AMITW executive director, attributes the rise in nesting and hatchlings to increased public awareness.
Through informational “Turtle Talks” and regulations for turtle-friendly beachfront lighting, AMITW and the island municipalities are reaching out to the public to help save sea turtles and their habitat, according to Fox.
“Once people know what they should be doing, usually they are quick to comply and curious to learn more,” she said.
Additionally, for 15 years, AMITW has had an “adopt-a-nest” program that involves more and more people in the conservation movement.
For a tax-deductible donation of $100, adopters have their names on a plaque at the nesting site and receive a letter of appreciation, a certificate and data from their nest after it hatches.
Funds raised from the program go to turtle-friendly lighting and public outreach.
As season draws to a close, turtle watch volunteers collect data from excavated nests, including those that were adopted by people and organizations.
AMITW digs into a sea turtle nest to determine how many eggs hatched. If there are live hatchlings, they are released to the Gulf and any dead hatchlings or unhatched eggs are accounted for in the reports to the state.
The reports are vital to obtaining beach renouishment dollars.
The week of Sept. 9, turtle watch excavated a nest adopted by the Osceola Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, as well as a nest laid by Bortie Too, the AMITW entry in the Sea Turtle Conservancy’s ongoing Tour de Turtles.
Peggy Veeder, the conservation chair for the Osceola DAR said she was excited to attend the Sept. 10 nest excavation.
“We love being a part of this,” Veeder said. “We are so lucky to have this here, where we live.”
Additionally, one of two nests laid on the island by Bortie Too, adopted by Steve Rose and his mother Millie, in honor of their father and husband, the late Jack Rose, was excavated Sept. 12.
“We really enjoy doing this part of island-life,” Steve Rose said. “I’ve never been able to be so close to any of this research and it’s really interesting.”
