Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch volunteers rescued one more loggerhead hatchling before closing their 2021 season on the beach.
Sea turtle nesting season on AMI runs May-October.
Of the 422 sea turtle nests marked by AMITW this year, 226 nests produced 15,725 hatchlings.
The remaining 196 nests did not hatch.
AMITW recorded the most sea turtle nests in 2019, 544. The most hatchlings recorded, 35,788, occurred in 2018.
Statistically, 2021 had 70 hatchlings per nest, just under the 80 hatchlings per nest recorded in 2018.
The statistics will be sent to the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Research Institute, which will compile data from across the state.
The data is used to identify nesting success, increases or decreases in the success of hatches, and if eggs don’t hatch, they analyze the reasons, according to Dr. Alan Foley, a wildlife biologist with FWRI.
The information helps the government enforce rules, identify species’ population changes, and guide beach renourishment practices.
AMI’s final hatch was excavated on Oct. 17 near the 400 block of Gulf Drive North in Bradenton Beach by AMITW volunteers — sisters Barbara and Monica Riskay — as beachgoers gathered to watch.
Hatchling tracks remained in the sand from the stampede created when the clutch of turtles emerged. Most of the tracks led to the Gulf of Mexico, indicating success.
The volunteers explained their excavation process to onlookers and allowed people to look at the depth of the nest hole before they filled it with the remainder of the eggs, covered it and completed their work.
The nest produced 70 hatched eggs, 40 unhatched eggs, one dead hatchling and one live hatchling.
The live hatchling was a surprise for beachgoers, who had the opportunity of seeing a tiny loggerhead turtle up close.
About AMITW
AMITW is a nonprofit permitted by the state and focused on collecting data on sea turtles listed as threatened or endangered in Florida, depending on the species.
For more information, go online to islandturtlewatch.com or call executive director Suzi Fox at 941-232-1405.
