Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring in the week ending Aug. 22 reported the first documented hatch of a sea turtle nest at Emerson Point Preserve in Palmetto.
AMITW also announced it was holding its last Turtle Talks and Shorebird Facts program of the season at Holmes Beach City Hall on Aug. 25, as The Islander went to press.
“Exciting news,” AMITW executive director Kristen Mazzarella told The Islander Aug. 22.
She said the Emerson Point nest, monitored daily by Manatee County staff and excavated by AMITW, contained 98 eggs and 81 of them hatched.
In other nesting news, AMITW said the 22,311 hatchlings to emerge from AMI nests five months into the season outnumber the total produced last year — 20,633 — and come close to the season total in 2023 — 22,713.
“And the season is not over yet,” said Mazzarella. “We still have 224 nests remaining on the beach.”
Nesting season continues until Oct. 31.
Until then, lights out.