Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring reports just 12 nests remaining on the 7-mile span of island beaches, with the season approaching its end on Oct. 31.
“We have been conducting a lot of 70-day excavations on nests that are overdue, many have been washed over by the surf several times this year,” said AMITW executive director Kristen Mazzarella. “The good news is that some of them have hatched eggs.”
Mazzarella said checking overdue nests provides important data about the number of eggs in a nest, as well as how much overwash a nest can withstand and still hatch.
For the week ending Oct. 3, AMITW reported two nest disorientations with one hatchling found in a pool and another in a parking lot.
Mazzarella said people should still be observing best practices — and following local ordinances — on the beaches: keep lights out or shielded.
“We also remind folks that we share the beach with shorebirds,” Mazzarella said. “Some birds are resting and feeding their young, while others are stopping on AMI to rest and feed during long migratory journeys.”
By the numbers
As of Oct. 3, AMITW reported 544 total nests, 827 false crawls, 420 hatched nests and 30,613 hatchlings produced.