If you had told me 22 years ago that I would fall in love with sea turtles – those hard-shelled, lumbering and not particularly attractive creatures of the deep blue sea here in Florida – I would have called you crazy. This former New Yorker turned Floridian started out with zero interest in ancient sea creatures, much less one that takes forever to move itself from sand to sea.
So picture me last month, when I opened a video sent by my dear friend Shana and watched, heart in hand, as two baby sea turtles – let’s call them Lizzy and Annabelle — popped up from their nest and pushed their way down the beach to the ocean’s edge.
Picture me wildly cheering them on. And then picture my misty-eyed sigh of relief when Lizzie and Annabelle finally splashed into the water.
The lesson here? Never judge a sea turtle by its shell. They are brave. They are fearless in the face of near-certain death. They are heroes.
Once a year, the female sea turtle drags herself out of the ocean and up to the dunes here in Ponce Inlet and Anna Maria Island to dig a nest and lay roughly a hundred eggs – most of which will not survive. She then makes her way back to the ocean, leaving behind the children she’ll never see. Roughly 8 weeks later (assuming humans or animals have not disturbed or destroyed the nest), the turtles begin hatching out of their eggs and – if they’re lucky enough to make it out of the nest – begin their journey back to the ocean.
I’d like to think that Lizzy and Annabelle were safe, once they hit the water. But sadly, even after hatchlings reach the ocean, most of them are picked off by their mortal enemies – seagulls, cranes, herons and pelicans, to name just a few. Just one out of a thousand turtle hatchlings will survive the perilous Dunkirk-like journey from the dunes to the ocean and reach adulthood. Still, I can hope…..
I’m proud to say that both Ponce Inlet and Anna Maria Island have an active community of sea turtle advocates (http://www.turtlepatrol.com and https://www.islandturtlewatch.com) to help preserve and support the Leatherback, Green, Loggerhead, Hawksbill and Kemp’s Ridley turtles that grace Florida with their presence each year.
Each year from May through October, volunteers like Ginger here in Ponce Inlet work tirelessly to identify and cordon off turtle nests. She then monitors the nest, documents its hatching progress, and if needed, will lend a hand to help struggling turtle hatchlings get to the beach. Once a nest has been emptied, she then documents the state of the nest to assess the success of the hatch.
It’s a fun and fascinating process. This year, I adopted a turtle nest and gave it to my friend Stephanie (an avid turtle lover) as a birthday gift. She was thrilled! You can find out more about nest adoption by clicking on the links above.
So….the next time you’re in Ponce Inlet or Anna Maria Island (hopefully as a guest in one of my http:///www.sandybeachvacay.com rental units), you’ll know you’re near a turtle nest on the beach if you see small section cordoned off with a pink, blue, purple or orange ribbon.
The best thing you can do is keep walking – and give the next Charlie or Melvin a fighting chance to catch the next wave back home.
Best Regards
Sandy