Esther added 47 hatchlings to the island’s 2022 hatchling count.
Esther, a female loggerhead, left her clutch of eggs June 20 near the 1400 block of Gulf Drive South on Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach.
Before she returned to the Gulf, Esther was tagged for the Sea Turtle Conservancy’s Tour de Turtles.
The nest was excavated Aug. 19 by Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch volunteers, who found 47 hatched eggs and six unhatched eggs.
Not all nests are as healthy as Esther’s nest.
Volunteers Birgit Kremer and Hans Duerr excavated four nests Aug 23.
The first nest was a tough start to the day for the volunteers. Located near Lifeguard Tower No. 9 on Gulf Drive South in Bradenton Beach, Duerr pulled out 37 dead hatchlings and five pips. A pip is a hatchling that started to emerge from the egg but died.
On counting the hatched eggs, however, the volunteers learned there were likely 56 hatched loggerheads that left the nest, headed for the Gulf of Mexico.
The second nest, between Lifeguard Towers No. 6 and No. 7 on Gulf Drive South in Bradenton Beach, was covered in fire ants. After spraying the area and repositioning to avoid getting bitten, Duerr and Kremer counted 71 hatched and three unhatched eggs.
The third nest, near Lifeguard Tower No. 6, contained evidence of 84 hatched and four unhatched eggs and seven dead hatchlings.
The last excavated nest of the day, near the 2800 block of Avenue E in Holmes Beach, held good news. The volunteers were able to account for 135 hatched and three unhatched eggs.
There are around 200 nests on the island beaches left to hatch between now and the calendar end of sea turtle season, which is Oct. 31. Any remaining nests after October will result in an extended season.
Esther drops to 7th place
The Tour de Turtles hard-shell category started Aug. 1 and can be followed at tourdeturtles.org.
Esther, a loggerhead tagged and released June 20 on Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach, was in seventh place out of 12 turtles Aug. 25.
Esther was near south Venice Aug. 25 and had traveled 158 miles.
Tour de Turtles is an educational effort led by the Sea Turtle Conservancy. Established in 1959, the organization is dedicated to the research, education and protection of sea turtles around the world. They started Tour de Turtles in 2008 to further educate and gather research data.
The Waterline Resort and Mainsail Vacation Rentals, both located on Marina Drive in Holmes Beach, and AMITW worked with the conservancy to make the tagging of Esther possible.
Each sea turtle has a cause. Esther’s is light pollution.
— Samara Paice