BRADENTON BEACH — The nest laid by Krysta, a loggerhead sea turtle that was satellite tagged after nesting two months ago, was disoriented by lights, according to Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring.
While Krysta was at her foraging grounds off Fort Myers, Turtle Watch responded to a call regarding 70 live and five dead hatchlings found scattered along Gulf Drive South between the 300 and 500 blocks. The live hatchlings were released on a darker stretch of beach.
The following morning, Turtle Watch found two more hatchlings, one in a pool and another in a storm drain. Both were transported to Mote’s Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Hospital.
During the excavation of Krysta’s nest three days later, Turtle Watch found that 89 of 102 eggs had hatched.
Krysta was tagged and is being tracked as part of the Sea Turtle Conservancy’s Tour de Turtles in cooperation with Turtle Watch. The event, which ends on Oct. 31, the last day of turtle season, is a research project that began in 2008 tracking satellite-tagged turtles to determine where and how far they migrate from their nesting beaches to their foraging grounds.
The competition is won by the turtle that swims the farthest during the marathon. Krysta is in second-to-last place in a field of 11 turtles, having traveled 120 miles since the race began.
So far this year, 458 nests have been laid on Anna Maria Island, producing 13,214 hatchlings. Up to 4,680 hatchlings have been disoriented and 171 were discovered dead.
Prevent disorientations
Sea turtles use light to find their way to the Gulf when they hatch. They depend on a dark background landward of the nest in order to see the brightness of the night sky reflecting on the water, according to Turtle Watch. Artificial lights from inland properties can cause them to go the wrong way. Lights don’t have to be directly on the beach to cause a problem; even properties several blocks away can be visible to hatchlings.
If you have property near the beach, please take a few minutes to check your lights:
• Turn off non-essential and decorative lights.
• Replace lights visible from the beach with turtle-friendly bulbs and fixtures.
• Shield lights so they cannot be seen from the beach.
• Close blinds and curtains at sunset to block interior light.
• Turn off headlights when parking vehicles facing the beach at night.
• Do not use lights (flashlights, cell phones, etc.) on the beach at night.
If you find a wayward hatchling, alive or dead, please do not release it. Call the Turtle Watch 24-hour hotline at 941-301-8434.