Anna Maria Island | Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch

Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch holds its 2008 nesting season training for volunteers on April 15th.

Anyone who would like to walk the beach and report turtle tracks and nest activity are invited to volunteer and go through the training session, which will be held at the Holmes Beach City Hall.

Beach walkers will learn how to recognize and report turtle tracks of nesting females on an assigned section of the beach. The nests are recorded and staked off by the AMITW permit holders and observed during the incubation period until hatchling tracks are found.

Nesting turtle season information:

• Sea turtle nesting season is from May through October.
• Federal law prohibits touching or disturbing nesting sea turtles, hatchlings or the nests without a permit.
• Avoid using flashlights or flash photography on the beach at night.
• Turn off outside lights or shield lights from being visible from the beach at night. Lights can disturb adults from nesting and hatchlings from returning to the sea.

Related posts:

1. Watching Out for Sea Turtles on Anna Maria Island Watching out for sea turtles does not mean actually watching sea turtles. In fact, the fewer encounters these ancient creatures have with humans, the better. The dedicated volunteers of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch understand this. Even the volunteers...
2. The Clean Beaches of Anna Maria Island For those who love beauty, removing ugly trash should be just as satisfying as collecting beautiful shells from the beach. It's troubling to notice more and more cigarette butts in the sand....
3. Great Blue Heron Rookery A couple of Great Blue Herons nesting in Bimini Bay have produced 3 chicks this season. These are the first to appear out of 6 7 active nests. The most popular spot for the rookery is high up in...
4. Great Blue Heron Rookery – Fledglings The 3 Great Blue Heron chicks that we referred to in the story Great Blue Heron Rookery have now fledged and left the nest. In the past week, first one, then two, and finally the third have taken short departures...
5. Island Pest Control Pest control is an ongoing battle on Anna Maria Island, as it is in most subtropical places. Instead of pests, many Islanders like to call them critters. It sounds less disgusting or frightening than the real names for some of...