BOLO on the beach

June 13, 2023 | one comment

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Restless islander David Stanton, couldn’t sleep and took a beach walk around 3:30 a.m. June 3 and shared this recollection: It was very bright out under a nearly full moon. As I was walking north through Holmes Beach, I noticed a fresh, unmarked sea turtle crawl. About a block later I saw a second fresh crawl. Then, just a few minutes later, there was a third crawl pattern in the sand and I saw a loggerhead up in the soft sand about 15 yards from the water’s edge. I walked closer, slowly and quietly as not to disturb it. Right about the same time, I saw a raccoon come out of the brush toward the sea turtle. I chased the raccoon off and shortly afterwards the sea turtle dug a hole and laid its eggs.
The turtle used its front and back flippers to cover the nest with sand. Then it did a 180-degree turn and headed back to the water — pausing every 15 feet or so for a short rest. All in all, it took the turtle maybe 45 minutes to lay its eggs and head back into the surf. It happened around 49th Street in Holmes Beach. It was an awesome experience to see a turtle that large. It had a few barnacles on its back and looked to be about a 100-pound turtle. It was one of the most incredible things I’ve seen in my time here. The next morning I sent my information to the Anna Maria Island turtle patrol to let them know the location of the three fresh crawls and the nest. Also, I took these photos with an iPhone Pro Max with a 3-second exposure to catch the full light, making sure not to use my flash to scare the turtle. I think had I not walked up at just the right time, the raccoon would’ve gotten the eggs or scared the turtle back into the Gulf of Mexico. I’m 53 years old and originally from Kansas City, Missouri. I’ve lived off and on the island since 2012. This was one of the most incredible things I’ve seen in all that time.

Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring issued a couple of cautions June 10, as the number of false crawls on local beaches surpassed the number of nests.

AMITW June 10 reported 167 false crawls —incidents in which a female sea turtle, likely a loggerhead, came ashore but did not nest. AMITW tallied 55 false crawls for the week ending June 10.

AMITW also reported 142 documented sea turtle nests, including 31 nests for the week ending June 10.

“We had a good week for turtles, including another green turtle nest this week,” AMITW director Kristen Mazzarella wrote in an email to The Islander.

She also shared two alerts — fill in large holes that can impede the progress of nesting and hatchling sea turtles and refrain from using lights on the beaches.

“Several of our nesting females traveled a long distance out of their way because they were following lights instead of using the brightness of the night sky to find the ocean,” Mazzarella wrote. “Please, keep our beaches dark for sea turtles.”

Mazzarella also asked people not to remove stakes placed by turtle watch, including stakes marking nests and also backup stakes in dunes and on wide beaches.

For more info, contact Mazzarella at info@islandturtlwatch.com or 941-301-8434.

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One thought on “BOLO on the beach”

  1. Turtlelover

    I understand someone’s excitement at seeing a nesting turtle(s). It’s a very special thing to witness nature in action but I also think the pictures send the wrong message. Though Mr. Stanton was very careful not to disturb the turtles or use any kind of lighting, not everyone who frequents the beach at night will be so careful, so a BOLO alert is definitely going to create more opportunity for the wrong behavior.
    And judging from the article about the problems the turtle program is experiencing, the pictures that were taken will only encourage behavior that is not as cautious as Mr. Stanton’s. I think it would have been better if you made a point of cautioning people about the pitfalls turtles face with people on the beach at night. I have been on the island for over 20 years and have seen some of the idiotic things that people do while on the beach at night. Please, if you are going to encourage people to look for turtles at least tell them what they need to know to avoid doing the wrong thing!

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