Sea Turtles

During our vacation had the opportunity to join the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch Association for a nesting tour. In July, Loggerhead & Green Sea Turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. We drug the kids down to Manatee Beach early one morning to meet our guide. A Loggerhead did come ashore but had already returned to the sea by the time we arrived.



However, she dug her nest too close to the shore line and would be washed out in the next storm. The Turtle Watch team needed to relocate the nest within the next hour; before the embryos attach to the eggs.



A little less than 2 feet under the sand we found 84 ping pong ball sized eggs. They were carefully placed in a bucket with some sand for the move up the beach. A new hole was dug and the eggs were gently covered back up and marked off. The nest is due to hatch on Sept. 1st. Wish we could be there for the birth.