Although turtle nesting season is over for the year, the new 2011 Longboat Key Turtle Watch shirts are now for sale at the Longboat Key, Lido Key, St. Armands Key Chamber of Commerce, 5570 Gulf of Mexico Drive, and the UPS store, 5380 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Suite 105. Cost for the shirts is $15. The next turtle season begins May 1.
A representative of Longboat Key Turtle Watch asked commissioners at their Thursday workshop to adopt an ordinance prohibiting beach furniture from being left overnight on Longboat Key beaches. The representative explained that turtle hatchlings easily become disoriented when they encounter an obstacle on their crawl to the Gulf of Mexico when they hatch. He said the turtles have been coming to our beaches for hundreds of thousands of years and do not expect to encounter beach chairs.
The turtle nesting and hatching season has officially ended. According to Longboat Key Turtle Watch member Freda Perrotta, it was successful season with 144 sea turtle nests compared to 104 last year. The Turtle Watch group wishes to thank those who joined the group at nest excavations and hopes residents and visitors will attend nest excavations next year.
A nest excavation will occur at 7 p.m., Sunday night, Oct. 3 at 7085 Gulf of Mexico Drive. Parking is at the Broadway Beach Access. There will be time for a question and answer session.
According to Turtle Watch volunteer, Freda Perrotta, there are only 12 sea turtle nests left to open with the next one occurring at 7 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 3 at 7085 Gulf of Mexico Drive. Oct. 31 marks the end of turtle nesting season, and Mote Marine specialists have compiled data so far this season that indicates certain species of sea turtles have decreased nesting numbers while other species have slightly increased nesting numbers.
Turtle nest opening Wednesday
The turtle nest numbers through July 31, 2010, are
Longboat Key Turtle Watch invites you to watch turtle nest openings Saturday, July 31:
According to the Town Public Works Director Juan Florensa, the town of Longboat Key will not remove the large clumps of seaweed that have washed ashore, as requested by Commissioner David Brenner. Brenner asked if the town has an established policy to remove it from the beach. Town Manager Bruce St. Denis [...]
Sea turtle nesting season is well underway, and one of the first Longboat nests has hatched. The Longboat Key Turtle Watch group noticed the first hatching on the Manatee County portion of Longboat and held a turtle nest opening yesterday. Several hatchlings had not yet made their way to the Gulf, so Turtle Watch volunteers placed the remaining hatchlings into the water as onlookers watched them swim away.
