Ana Belle Island, FL : FREE Travel Magazine E-zine: Dream or Plan your week-end trips or international travel adventures here

International Magazine

Flag of Florida

Send this Page to a Friend

A Sea Turtle Summer On Ana Belle Island

by Andrew Der

(and Drew Shelton-Der, Susan Shelton-Der & Teresa Shelton)

My previous coverage of Anna Maria Island (see A Florida Secret) revealed a myriad of subtropical undiscovered family fun to be explored during the off season. A family destination truly worthy of a visit is one where there is always something new to discover and just when I think I have covered everything, nature reminds us to pay more attention. With a professional background in the natural and biological sciences, I found myself paying special attention to the fenced off endangered see turtle nest directly in front of our oceanfront apartment balcony during our last visit at the height of the August hatching season.

We frequently read local paper coverage of unfortunate artificial light-induced hatchling migrations away from the ocean and have seen nests marked off in the sand before. We knew about how the mother sea turtle returns to there place of birth to lay eggs and how they must hatch in the total absence of artificial light to navigate to the ocean - but never in the day time so as to avoid being sea gull food. We learned that these already endangered species would be a lot worse off if it weren't for an army of diligent volunteers assuring that the eggs hatch properly. These midwives, and “midhusbands”, of the surf also return to count all the hatched eggs, rescue any stragglers and report all the results to the governing regulatory agency which gives the permits to the volunteers - touching these cute and magnificent creatures is otherwise illegal.

The latest account of a light-induced misdirection of hatchlings to their vehicular death made our room-front nature preserve that much more valuable and prompted a little research with the local visitor's bureau which led us to the local volunteer office of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch, Inc. nearby. We learned even more about sea turtles and were inducted into their organization as temporary nest monitors - we even had a chance to view a planned release of hatchlings at another beach. They were held in a bucket from an earlier daytime hatching after notified by lifeguards. Accustomed to such experiences only on TV nature shows, seeing this event for real was something we would never forget.

Armed with their deputized mission of nest monitoring, my children, Drew and Susan, ten and eight years old respectively, diligently checked the nest for signs of activity every night. As we were talking about how cool it would be if it hatched while we were here, two nights before we left, we observed surface sand movement in the afternoon and Turtle Watch quickly arrived with their donated ATV. Loyal residents and visitors joined the volunteers for the baby sitting well into the evening. By 8:00 PM, a sunken hole had formed in the sand and little subsurface flippers could be seen twitching at intervals.

Building lights were strategically off and one was quickly reminded how even starlight, the turtles' beacon, provides ample illumination once the eye can adjust. Drew and Susan sat faithfully nest-side the whole time and what amazed me the most was their ability to voluntarily sit quietly and motionless for hours. Turtles were able to do what I could not. Under turtle-invisible red beam flashlights, the creatures increased their bouts of fits and starts but failed to trigger the threshold needed to begin the instinctive chain reaction of a nest-synchronized exodus. Finally, at about 9:30 PM, labor ceased and delivery occurred.

As if on cue, they spilled forth from their sandy womb like a heard of tarantulas to the squealing delight of children and adults alike. Drew likened it to a horror movie without the horror and realized this was a rare experience. Spreading into a fan-shaped flow of crawling reptilian carpet, they enveloped many of the bystanders requiring everyone to stand where they were to avoid accidentally stepping on the tykes. We will always remember the tickling of their proportionally large flippers as they crawled over our bare feet toward their awaiting refuge. While interaction with humans is kept to a minimum, some stragglers needed redirecting and coaxing in the right direction. Susan very diligently led one apprehensive turtle in particular to its appropriate destination by pretending to be its mother. Other bystanders herded the rest as necessary. In about 20 minutes, all that was left on the beach was the occasional ghost crab, the gurgling of the surf and a silent breeze.

Contacts

Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch, Inc.

www.islandturtles.com, 941-778-1435

For quick turtle facts, photos and turtle conservation activities in Florida, the following links can get you started.

www.fpl.com/environment/endangered/contents/sea_turtle_facts.shtml

http://northflorida.fws.gov/SeaTurtles/turtle-facts-index.htm

http://cccturtle.org/

www.floridaconservation.org/psm/turtles/turtle.htm

www.marinelab.sarasota.fl.us/~jerris/turtles/sea_turtle_rrc.phtml

www.sccf.org/turtle.htm

http://seaturtle.org/

Many Book & Audio Reviews For Your Travels

Complete Article List

Get Published Here! Contact Us!

Peace for Everyone

Adventures in your FREE e-zine

FREE Monthly Subscriptions.

Subscribers: Please be sure this

E-mail address

Is in your address book:

mail@realtraveladventures.com

It's that simple!

Real Travel Adventures International Magazine

If any links don't work

PLEASE NOTIFY US

EXCITING NEWS!

CLICK HERE TO HEAR US LIVE

on Destination Worldview

11:30 A.M. (NY time) some Wednesdays

Every Wednesday get Latest Travel Tips and views while you work on your computer

Streaming Internet broadcast on WWW.TTRN.COM

or TUNE IN on Radio Station

WTMY 1280 AM IN FLORIDA

TALKIN' TRAVEL WITH ROY and MARCUS

Every Wednesday

11 A.M. (New York Time)

Home Next Page

Thanks for visiting us!

Add to Bookmarks

Real Travel Adventures International Magazine

Real and Armchair Travelers: Enjoy best trip reviews, travel features, and excellent travel photos in RealTravelAdventures.com, your FREE on-line international magazine. Send your funny or outrageous travel experiences & photos and get published!

Visit or dream of fascintating places with Real Travel Adventures e-zine! This site offers travel humor, photos, stories, helpful guidebooks, and more. Visit for fun or to seek tips for your next travel adventure...and then share your own stories with us here at

realtraveladventures.com, your free online travel magazine, where you'll find great book reviews, international travel adventures magazine, airline tickets, real travel adventures, camping, RV travel, RV's, Cruises, restaurant reviews, RVing, FamilyTrips, traveling with kids and children, Nature and eco trips, ecology, international travel, Ski Trips, Spas, Spiritual Retreats, interviews with Special People, Travel Humor, Travel News, Unbelievable, WeddingTrips, restaurant reviews and advisor, traveling adventures, adventure travels, travel, virtual and armchair travel, Back Roads, off the beaten path, where to go Camping and enjoy RV trips, where to Dine and Sleep, fun Family Trips, our Favorite Finds, Arts and Crafts, cruises and cruise vacations, romantic trips, traveling tips, travel stories, audio book reviews for your travels, books reviews, good books for a trip, wedding trip planner, wedding Trips, Honeymoons, Unbelievable adventures, Travel News, humorous travel stories, spas and retreats, spiritual retreats, meditation retreats, ski trips, week-end trips Near You, nature's Best places, ecology trips, travel guide books, traveling with children, e-zines, FREE Ezines, Free travel magazines, magazine, free online magazines, internet magazines, free magazine subscriptions, web magazines, true stories, humorous articles, funny features, human interest features, nature photos, environment photographs, photos, adventurous stories, real true stories, true adventrues, camping gear, vacation, holidays, safaris, Caribbean vacations, cheap hotels, great places to go, nature hikes, nature photography, family vacations, family holidays, trip planner, great trips, scenic photos, holiday vacations, holidays, holiday stories, foreign destinations, International travel trips. And you can Get published here too! Send us your travel stories and pictures.