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She rides
the wake of the evening tide to the white sand beach in the
light of a sleepy moon. The female loggerhead named Caretta
caretta surfs onto the shore, dragging her heavy, weary hulk
through tangled seaweed and shells. Heavy with eggs, she scoops
the wet sand with wide sweeps of her rear flippers, preparing to
leave a hundred eggs behind. With the pink light of morning, her
nest complete and camouflaged, she heads out to the welcoming
sea and hitches a ride on a wave – out to depths unknown.
She will
ride the Gulf waters for a fortnight until some inner light,
some earthly magnetic pull, leads her ashore once more to
prepare another nest. And, from these sandy beach front plots
will emerge tiny hatchlings. Out of papery eggshells, brothers
and sisters thrash out, flippers flying like fists, to push up
and out to the light. They emerge, wrestling with one another,
up, up, up and out to the sound of water waking, circle upon
circle, on the shore.
The moon
watches over them in the cool of the night, guiding them to the
surf. Even so, a seagull swoops, picking out the weary or the
slow.
Still they
scramble toward the sea, toward the waves of protection. In
frenzy, instinctively, they follow the horizon’s light to
sanctuary – the restless waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Lights Out!
Light is
life for a hatching sea turtle. Unfortunately, sometimes the
light holds a false promise and it means certain death.
Typically, hatchlings emerge at night and use the bright, open
view of the night sky over the water to find their way to the
sea. Artificial lights on beachfront buildings and roadways
distract hatchlings on their way to the ocean. Because of this
danger, many beachfront communities in Florida, including
Sarasota and Charlotte Counties, have adopted lighting
ordinances requiring lights to be shut off or shielded during
the nesting and hatching season.
Every day
between May 1 and October 31 of each year, local volunteers
awaken in the dark to prepare to patrol miles of beaches in
search of loggerhead tracks that resemble those made by a
tractor. |
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Coastal Wildlife Turtle Patrol volunteer Norma Jean Zvosec
stakes and marks a fresh loggerhead nest. The stakes serve to
mark a nest and include the zone, nest number and date found for
future information. The measurements also help to find the nest
in the event the stakes get washed away in a high tide or storm
To Volunteer
Mote Marine
volunteers patrol beaches daily during turtle season looking for
signs of nesting and hatching activity on more than 35 miles of
beaches between the Manatee/Sarasota county line on Longboat Key
through the Caspersen Beach Access in Venice. Volunteers
typically walk approximately 1 mile of beach and are required to
commit to one or two days per week for the entire season. Each
volunteer is required to attend a one-time training session
either on April 11 or 18. If you are interested in being a
turtle patrol volunteer, e-mail your name, address and phone
number to turtles@mote.org, and someone will contact you.
Turtle Walks
Mote’s Sea
Turtle Conservation and Research Program leads free public
turtle walks from two locations starting at 6:45 a.m. every
Saturday during June, July and August. Participants receive an
overview of sea turtle biology and sea turtle nesting, while
accompanying a permitted volunteer on a 1.5 mile walk along the
beach at the Public Beach on Lido Key (starting at the northern
lifeguard tower), or at The Hilton Hotel and Resort on Longboat
Key. No reservations are necessary
Written by
Tami Patzer
Printed
April 2009
Web April
2009
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