Ready, set, swim.
Henrietta, a loggerhead released June 24 from the south end of Anna Maria Island, will begin the Aug. 2 Sea Turtle Conservancy’s annual Tour de Turtles marathon.
In the marathon, sea turtles tagged with satellite-tracking devices “compete” in a distance swim, which the public can follow on STC’s website at tourdeturtles.org.
Henrietta was tagged after nesting at Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach and has already returned to AMI once — July 17 — to nest.
But for the Tour de Turtles, that activity was preliminary, like a warmup. STC does not start counting the distance of the marathon participants until all the non-leatherbacks, or chelonians, are tagged and released. So the race will begin Aug. 2.
The Tour de Turtles has two basic purposes:
- To spread awareness about issues facing sea turtles. Each turtle swims for a particular cause. For example, Henrietta will represent light pollution concerns.
- To collect data about sea turtles for conservation efforts.
Dr. Daniel Evans of the conservancy spoke to The Islander July 25 about the scientific value of the Tour de Turtles.
Evans takes tissue and scute samples from the turtles to identify the characteristics of the places where they forage for food.
“It’s often not in the same country as where they nest,” he said.
“We can do a lot here in the U.S. to protect the beaches and the turtles but they go to other countries to find food,” Evans continued. “If they’re being harvested or hunted or there are threats in these other countries, this allows us to be able to start trying to address those issues.”
The characteristics of foraging grounds are part of the reason leatherbacks are separated from chelonians like Henrietta in the marathons. The leatherback marathon began June 16.
Leatherbacks feed primarily on jellyfish in the ocean, which appear as blooms in certain areas.
Unlike major food sources for loggerheads, which remain mostly stationary, jellyfish blooms are likely to move around, forcing leatherbacks to travel a greater distance.
Because of this, leatherbacks were placed in their own category.
In the chelonian category, Henrietta will complete against some sea turtles that do not nest in Florida, like the hawksbill.
Lexie Beach, communications coordinator at the STC, said seeing this endangered sea turtle species was an exciting part of her recent travel to the island of Saint Kitts and Nevis for releases.
“One reason they’re endangered is because they have the most beautiful shell,” she said. The hawksbill shell is emblematic of the classic “tortoiseshell” pattern.
The two hawksbills released from the Caribbean country that will be competing against Henrietta are Twinkles and Sparkle.
Other turtles entered into the marathon, as of July 26, included Grana, Gochujang, Gili and Shelby.
As for Henrietta’s chances of winning the marathon, “historically, the Anna Maria Island turtles have not traveled very far,” Beach said.
However, that is a good thing. “It means they’re happy and well-fed there,” she said.
“The lore of sea turtles is that they go very far away from their nesting beaches,” Evans said. “So for these turtles to be sort of hanging out and sort of sticking around is very unusual.”
Although we’re rooting for Henrietta, even if she doesn’t go far, we’ll be counting that as a win for the good life on and around Anna Maria Island.
From the director’s report …
More than halfway through the season, sea turtle nesting on Anna Maria Island is slowing down as hatching is picking up.
Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring has observed an 81% hatch rate in the nests they inventoried as of July 26.
AMITW executive director Kristen Mazzarella described the rate as “excellent.”
Still, turtle watch wants people to keep beaches clean, dark and flat to help hatchlings.
In a remarkable success, the least tern colony on the shore in north Bradenton Beach had fledged eight chicks as of July 26.
AMITW. in a weekly report, thanked its volunteers and shorebird coordinator Kathy Doddridge for protecting the colony and educating the public.
The colony’s newest chick was observed with the rest of the birds outside the posted area, a reminder to give the birds space near their colony at the 27th Street North beach.
— Masha Dolgoff
