MANASOTA KEY — Sea turtle season is still on until the end of October, and even with Tropical Storm Debby, Manasota Key has seen some astounding things this year.
The Coastal Wildlife Club has noted one rare leatherback nest, 122 green sea turtle nests, 4,620 loggerhead nests and one Kemp’s ridley nest during its latest survey. To have both a leatherback and Kemp’s ridley in the mix make this year special, club members say.
And the leatherback nest has already hatched, sending a flurry of hatchlings off into the Gulf of Mexico.
After Tropical Storm Debby sent heavy surf onto the region’s beaches, CWC volunteers began their post- storm assessments, and they set out to find the leatherback nest.
“Since no hatchling emergence was noted, possibly due to storms, the exact nest location was unknown,” CWC volunteer Carol McCoy said. “The volunteers needed to search a large area to find the eggs, but after an hour of digging the eggs were located and data collected and recorded.”
It was determined 12 hatchling emerged, there were 67 whole eggs, 26 dead pipped eggs and 39 spacers within the nest.
“A spacer is a small yolkless egg filled with albumen,” McCoy said. “Dead pipped is the term used for dead hatchlings partly out of their eggshells.”
CWC turtle patrollers were able to take samples for later DNA analysis.
“From these samples, scientists can determine a turtle’s lineage, whether this turtle may have daughters also nesting and other locations this turtle has nested,” she said. “Of particular interest to CWC patrollers is whether this turtle is the same leatherback that laid other nests on the Gulf coast this year.”
The DNA samples will be studied by Brian Shamblin, an associate research scientist, as part of the NRU Sea Turtle Genetics Project. The research will help him and other scientists learn more about Florida leatherbacks.
It’s uncommon for a leatherback to nest off Florida’s West Coast, making the Manasota Key nest near Englewood the first recorded since the club has been surveying beaches.
McCoy said they usually nest on the state’s east coast beaches, in the panhandle and only occasionally in southwest Florida.
McCoy also said that while many of the marking stakes the club members placed when they located a next were downed by Debby, that doesn’t mean the nest is gone.
“If the nest is found to remain, it will be remarked and monitored to completion,” she said.
It’s also important to remember that hatching and nesting are still happening, so the club members and state officials caution people on the beach to be considerate of wildlife.
“This year isn’t a record year — but a good year nonetheless,” McCoy said.
DEAD FISH REPORTED While the turtles seem to be doing well, other sea creatures aren’t.
Fish and different types of crab have been reported dead in canals and beaches around Englewood.
Longtime Englewood resident Esther Horton said her canal near Lemon Bay, off Dearborn Street, is full of dead fish. McCoy said people are reporting dead crabs and whelks on the beach.
The FWC has not reported any amounts of red tide or harmful algal bloom in the area, but at least 6.6 million gallons of sewage water was spilled into several miles to the north in Manatee and Sarasota counties, mostly into local waterways, after Tropical Storm Debby.
If a person sees a dead or struggling sea turtle, they can call the FWC Wildlife Alert at 888-404-3922. To report fish kills, call 800-636-0511.
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