Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring volunteers are cross-training and offering conservation lessons to people on the beach at the library.
Just check into the Island Library, 5701 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach, to check out the display created by AMITW volunteers Karen and Chuck Anderson.
The display, which will remain near the library entrance through June, provides information on conservation and loggerhead sea turtles.
Meanwhile, on the shore, AMITW volunteers are fielding questions from curious beachgoers while tracking and marking new nests and false crawls.
Nesting season is active, with Zone 2 — along the Gulf shore in Holmes Beach and Anna Maria — reaching and surpassing the 100-nest mark June 9.
AMITW has sectioned the island into three zones for monitoring nesting and hatchling activity — Zone 1 in Bradenton Beach, Zone 2 and Zone 3 on the bayfront.
Other nesting notes
- AMITW volunteers noted a nesting loggerhead June 9 near the 800 block of North Shore Drive in Anna Maria knocked down an enclosure for a previously marked nest.
The Andersons restored the markings at the older nest and then located the new nest just a couple of feet away.
The obstructed nesting attempt, or “ONA,” will be reported to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The Andersons also spoke June 9 from Debbie and Dave Keener, who were vacationing from Draper, Virginia, providing the beachgoers with information about the threat of human-made holes to sea turtles.
AMITW had documented a false crawl that day by a female loggerhead that, upon approaching a sizable hole, returned to the Gulf without laying its eggs.
Also of note…
The Sea Turtle Conservancy, a nonprofit organization established in 1959 and dedicated to the research, education and protection of sea turtles around the world, is planning the public release of a loggerhead, nicknamed “Esther,” in partnership with AMITW, the Waterline Resort and Mainsail Vacation Rentals.
The release is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Monday, June 20, at Coquina Beach but the date and time are subject to weather and release conditions.
The capture, including tagging with a satellite tracker, is part of the STC’s Tour de Turtle program, a race, of sorts, in miles traveled while being monitored after release from beaches in Costa Rica, Panama, Nevis, Anna Maria Island and other locations in Florida.
The turtle that travels the most miles over a three-month period starting Aug. 1 will be the winner of Tour de Turtle.
More details about the event can be found on conserveturtles.org or by following the STC Facebook site.