JULY 15, 2020
www.amisun.com
THE SUN
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Keep on swimming Cindy Lane
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lot of things are different in this first turtle season on Anna Maria Island since the coronavirus pandemic began. To limit people’s exposure to COVID-19, there are no public turtle nest excavations to watch as Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch volunteers extract and count egg fragments to determine how many eggs hatched from each nest. There are no Turtle Talks for visitors to attend to learn about sea turtle nesting and hatching on the Island, and how they can help them survive. There is no satellite tagging of a nesting sea turtle to follow online in the Sea Turtle Conservancy’s annual Tour de Turtles race. There will be no Turtle Watch awards luncheon to recognize the many volunteers, only a few of whom are allowed to work on the beach this year due to the pandemic.
TURTLE TIPS
During sea turtle season, May 1 – Oct. 31, please follow these tips: • Turn off lights visible from the beach and close blinds from sundown to sunrise; lights confuse nesting sea turtles and may cause them to go back to sea and drop their eggs in the water, where they won’t hatch. Light can also attract hatchlings away from the water. • Don’t use flashlights, lanterns or camera flashes on the beach at night. • Remove all objects from the sand
CINDY LANE | SUN
All sea turtle nests laid on Anna Maria Island this year are being relocated to one section of beach in Anna Maria to avoid being damaged by the beach renourishment project that began last week. Turtle Watch is indefinitely postponing its annual fundraiser, “Turtle Watch Wednesday,” to keep people safe. And there are difficulties not related to the coronavirus. Beach renourishment in Holmes Beach and Bradenton Beach has forced Turtle Watch to dig up all sea turtle nests on the Island this season and relocate them to a safe
beach in Anna Maria and dig new nests. Turtle Watch Director Suzi Fox is worried that someone is following nesting turtles this season, distracting them from their task, based on turtle and human tracks. And, as always, people are digging holes in the sand and not filling them in, trapping one nesting turtle so far this season that was rescued by Turtle Watch.
from sundown to sunrise; they can deter sea turtles from nesting and disorient hatchlings. • Fill in the holes you dig in the sand before leaving the beach; they can trap nesting and hatching sea turtles, which cannot live long out of the water. • Don’t use wish lanterns or fireworks; they litter the beach and Gulf. • Do not trim trees and plants that shield the beach from lights. • Never touch a sea turtle; it’s the law. If you see people disturbing tur-
tles, call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Wildlife Alert hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).
NESTING NEWS
Turtle nests laid: 291, up from 261 last week (Record: 544 in 2019) False crawls: 390, up from 355 last week Nests hatched: 6 Hatchlings hatched: 434 (Record: 35,788 in 2018) Nest disorientations: 0
Beach furniture continues to be left out at night, and lights facing the beach continue to be left on at night, which diverts turtles from the water. But despite the obstacles, Turtle Watch has always strived to keep sea turtles safe while also keeping people safe - for example, they investigated and found turtle lighting options that allow people to see where they’re going while shielding turtles from distracting light sources. Now, during the pandemic, the organization is striving even harder to keep volunteers safe from the coronavirus while continuing to protect turtles. So here’s a wave of the flipper to Turtle Watch, and when it seems that all your efforts are just a drop in the ocean, it might help to remember that with all the hindrances to the continuation of the species, sea turtles are still around, and have been for about 100 million years. According to some Native American tribes, one was present at the creation of the world, which rests on the turtle’s back while it “swims” forever in space. So, to Turtle Watch and the 434 sea turtles that have hatched on the Island so far this year, keep on swimming.
BIRD TIPS
During bird nesting season, March through August, please follow these tips: • Never touch a shorebird chick, even if it’s wandering outside a staked nesting area. • Teach kids not to chase birds – bird parents may abandon nests if they’re disturbed. • Don’t feed birds – it encourages them to fly at people aggressively and is not good for their health.
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