She’s named Bortie — short for her sponsor, Bortell’s Lounge.
And she’s soon to be famous for her travels around Anna Maria Island and beyond.
According to Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring, Bortie was among 10 sea turtles to nest June 19 on AMI beaches.
But only one was singled out for an adventure.
One loggerhead was tagged and released — and named Bortie — as part of the Sea Turtle Conservancy’s Tour de Turtles, a sea turtle marathon.
Bortie nested early June 19 at Coquina Beach in Bradenton Beach.
AMITW partnered with the STC to tag and release the female.
AMITW volunteers walked sections of island beaches that have had the most nesting activity this season late June 18. After about 30 minutes of walking, Dixie Lampers and Carl Jelovich spotted a turtle just south of lifeguard station 6. It had already nested and the pair held the turtle on the beach.
Typically, sea turtles immediately return to the water after nesting, as females only come ashore to nest.
But Bortie was placed in an enclosure by the conservancy staff.
Dan Evans, technology and research specialist for the STC, with help from Mote Marine Laboratory representatives, scrubbed barnacles away and attached a tracking device with epoxy. They then waited two hours for the epoxy to dry.
According to Evans, the tracking device doesn’t bother the turtle and eventually will fall off.
Once the device was placed, about 100 people who waited at the shoreline watched as Bortie crawled to the Gulf of Mexico.
The tagging is essential to the 11th annual Tour de Turtles, when sea turtles tagged and released from beaches in Costa Rica, Panama, Nevis and Florida compete in a “marathon” to log the most miles in three months. The turtles travel afar in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea to nutrient-rich sea grass beds to replenish from nesting.
STC researchers use satellite telemetry to track the turtles. Every time Bortie lifts its head above water, the antenna on the tracker sends a signal, letting the scientists — and visitors to the Tour de Turtles website at conserveturtles.org/trackingmap/?id=191 — know where the turtle is located.
Evans said the device will perform for six months to two years, but he hopes to get at least a year out of the transmitter. The life of the device depends on how fast the sea turtle carapace grows or if the antenna becomes damaged.
In 2017, AMITW won the Tour de Turtles with Eliza Ann, a loggerhead that traveled 1,693 miles during the marathon and crawled ashore — possibly nesting four times that summer — according to the tracker. This was the first time AMITW had proof of a sea turtle nesting multiple times in one season on the island.
“Knowing that the turtles are returning to our island for repeated nesting was an eye-opener for everyone in the state,” Suzi Fox, AMITW executive director, said June 20. Fox said they suspected sea turtles return to shore to nest multiple times in a season, but the tracking of Eliza Ann was the first documented proof.
A year later, Eliza Ann’s tracking device is still transmitting signals.
According to Evans, as of June 20, the turtle was in waters off the coast of Cuba. Evans said Eliza Ann’s migration track is an example of interconnectedness across geographic boundaries.
“They nest in Florida, but they feed in Cuba,” Evans said. “Especially these days, with American-Cuban relations, this is just another way to make that connection — that we have a shared resource.”
He said his research investigates the migrations of greens, loggerheads, hawksbills and leatherbacks — and looks for overlap.
According to Evans, research has shown that while the other species tend to stay regional, the leatherback’s migration encompasses all the regions.
Bortie is nicknamed for Bortell’s Lounge, 10002 Gulf Drive, Anna Maria, this year’s $5,000 marathon sponsor.
Rose said at Bortie’s release, “We just love the sea turtles on Anna Maria Island.”
Fox said until recently, AMITW did not have the funding to tag turtles.
“This used to be research we couldn’t afford to participate in,” she said. “We are thrilled to be a step up from data collectors. We’re involved in the research now.”
For more information on nesting season, contact Fox at suzifox@gmail.com or 941-778-5638.
To report sick, injured, entangled or dead sea turtles or shorebirds contact the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922.
For more photos and video of Bortie, look for this story online at www.islander.org.