Three loggerhead hatchlings were found dead and covered in fire ants in a nest on Bean Point.
Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring volunteers Hans Duerr and Birgit Kremer excavated nests Sept. 3 in the dunes in Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach.
One of the nests, near the 800 block of North Shore Drive in Anna Maria, produced 60 hatched eggs, three unhatched and three dead hatchlings in the clutch covered in fire ants.
It also ended up that Duerr and Kremer suffered fire ant bites.
It could not be determined if the turtles were killed while pipping or died before the ants attacked the nest.
Predation of sea turtle nests by tropical fire ants, considered an invasive species, is a concern, according to research from seaturtle.org, a nonprofit that consolidates information about sea turtles. Fire ants can harm or kill turtles in the nest or after they hatch. Even after a hatchling makes it to the water, the venom from the fire ant sting can kill or cause an infection that could lead to death.
Sea turtle nests are excavated by AMITW to collect important date three days after hatching to allow adequate time for hatchlings to make their way out of the nest on their own.
AMITW volunteers occasionally recover a hatchling from a nest, monitor it and release it — if it’s healthy — to the Gulf of Mexico. If the hatchling is deemed unhealthy, it may be taken to Mote Marine Laboratory’s Sea Turtle Hospital for observation.
Another nest excavated by volunteers Sept. 3 near Lifeguard Tower No. 6 on Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach produced 100 hatched and two unhatched eggs. Signs indicated a raccoon disturbed the nest before excavation and possibly ate one unhatched egg.
In other news a disorientation near the Gulf Drive Cafe, at 900 Gulf Drive N., Bradenton Beach, sent the volunteers looking in the dunes for surviving hatchlings.
One hatchling was recovered and observed before being released into the Gulf of Mexico.
For more information, go online to islandturtlewatch.com or call executive director Suzi Fox at 941-232-1405.