LONGBOAT KEY, Fla. — Beaches in the Tampa Bay area have started preparing for sea turtle nesting season. Researchers with the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium are reminding everyone to prepare for the arrival of female turtles, their nests, and hatchlings. Two turtle nests have already been discovered and marked on Longboat Key.
"There definitely are more coming so we'll see when they really pick up but it should be any day now," said Melissa Macksey, conservation manager & senior biologist with Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium's Sea Turtle Conservation & Research Program (STCRP).
More than 200 female turtles come to Sarasota's 35 miles of beachline every summer to lay their eggs. Nesting season, which also includes shorebirds, begins from May 1 through October 31. But, as early as April 15, more than 300 staff and volunteers had begun patrolling the bushes near the shoreline for nests to mark.
"Turtles traditionally don't read the calendar and so we get out there a little bit before them and we have already seen two nests and I think five false calls which are incidences where she hasn't laid eggs but is basically checking it out and seeing if she wants to," Macksey said.
Female sea turtles can create up to seven nests and lay more than 100 eggs in each but only an estimated one out of 1,000 hatchlings makes it into adulthood, according to scientists.
Many nests and hatchlings are destroyed by human activity or predators. Some adult turtles and hatchlings also get stuck in beach furniture or holes dug in the sand while trying to make it back to sea. Beachgoers and residents who live near the beach are being advised to follow a few simple rules to help keep the sea turtles safe.
They are urged to stay off the beach at night and cut the lights off.
"Lighting can be a big problem for them, can confuse them and have them go in the wrong direction instead of towards the ocean," Macksey said.
If a turtle creates a nest near your home or you happen upon a nest, you are asked to give it space and not tamper with it. Before heading home after a day at the beach, you are advised to clean up after yourself and leave nothing behind.
"Fill in your holes when you're done, knock down your sandcastle, take your trash away and then leave it dark and you should be good," she said.
Experts also say if you're out at a beach during the day and you see a turtle, the best thing to do is to call Mote Marine Lab at (941) 388-4441 or Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 888-404-FWCC (888-404-3922).