Hailing from Chicago, one of the first things I noticed on Anna Maria Island is how clear the skies are at night.
On July 4, I’m looking forward to seeing them light up with fireworks in Bradenton.
However, on the island, the celestial backdrop serves as an important constant for wildlife and marinelife and there will be no fireworks displays on AMI beaches, where the first round of sea turtle nests soon will hatch.
The first turtle nest was discovered April 27 and eggs typically incubate for about two months so the hatch date is anticipated at the beginning of July.
Sea turtle nesting season runs May 1-Oct. 31 and is when female sea turtles come ashore to lay eggs.
Shorebird nesting season overlaps, happening Feb. 15-Sept. 1.
Unlike sea turtles, which had dug nearly 500 nests on the island as of June 27, the occurrence of a nesting shorebird colony is rare.
However, there is a least tern colony on the island, discovered by Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring the week of May 6 near the 27th Street beach access in Bradenton Beach. Least terns last nested on the island in 2021 and previous colonies have failed because of the presence of cats and crows.
As of June 28, there were 22 total nests in the colony, with six-seven birds still sitting on eggs and seven chicks varying in age from one to two weeks.
According to an AMITW news release, the older chicks were gaining their flight feathers and practicing flying. Least tern chicks typically fly in 19-20 days.
The hatching and maturation process are when sea turtles and shorebirds are at their most vulnerable.
Loud noises and bright lights, such as those from fireworks, can cause birds to abandon their nests.
Although shorebirds are most susceptible to disruption by fireworks, they also pose a danger to sea turtles.
“Light of fireworks can disorient sea turtles,” Kristen Mazzarella, executive director of AMITW, wrote in an email to The Islander June 27.
Mazzarella said sea turtles also can crawl over fireworks, which might burn them.
So don’t use them on the beach.
AMITW has some other advice:
- Shield or turn off outdoor lights visible on the beach;
- Remove beach furniture and toys from the beach at night;
- Fill in holes in the sand;
- Respect posted areas;
- Avoid using flashlights, cellphone lights or flash photography on the beach at night.
Respecting the physical boundaries of sea turtles and shorebirds on the beach during the holiday is key to helping them reach independence, while we celebrate our independence.
AMITW director’s notes
Sea turtles continue to nest in high numbers this week — 492 tests total — and the island is on course to break the 2019 record, which was 500 nests, reported Kristen Mazzarella, executive director of AMITW.
The least tern colony in the 2700 block of Gulf Drive North continues to be strong, she added, with several chicks attempting to fly.
“With the holiday coming up this week, we want to remind the public to be turtle and bird-friendly when they are at this beach,” Mazzarella said.
As of June 28, AMITW identified 492 nests and 587 false crawls. There were no hatched nests.
— Masha Dolgoff
