Tag: sea turtles

Sea turtle nesting season calls for special care along coastal beaches

Editor’s Note: This is one of six weekly wildlife articles submitted by the Barrier Island Parks Society to raise awareness about the issues facing our island communities. BY THE BARRIER...

Turtle Patrol highlight: nest excavations and inventory

BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY One of the more important tasks the BGSTA turtle patrollers perform is nest inventory. This is done by digging up and documenting the nest contents either three...

Odd year: Review of this season’s sea turtle nesting figures

BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY Can you believe we are only at the halfway point of this sea turtle nesting season? The word “only” used here is as an option, in case you are not a sea turtle...

Sea Turtles: Disorented hatchlings can be prevented

BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY Last week, shortly after the start of one of our morning patrols, BGSTA volunteers received an urgent text message stating, “All, Denise has a major...

A young conservationist’s ideas on keeping nests safe

BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY My grandkids from Kansas were visiting for the past couple weeks, and one of the highlights is having them join me for turtle patrol early in the morning. OK,...

How the island’s Sea Turtle volunteers work with Florida data

BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY The sea turtle nesting season is now in its 11th week on Gasparilla Island, nearly halfway through the 26-week season, which officially ends Oct. 31. Since May...

Sea turtle recognition program

Charlotte County Natural Resources has launched the Sea Turtle Lighting Recognition Program, a pilot program designed to honor the outstanding efforts of our coastal community in protecting...

First loggerheads, and an update on our nest adoption

BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY Since my last article, we have started seeing hatches of our first loggerhead nests! Our first nests were documented on May 1, and with an approximate two-month...

Charlotte Parks sea turtle contest

Charlotte County Parks & Natural Resources are accepting artwork beginning July 1 for “Lights Out for Sea Turtles,” a campaign designed to raise awareness around sea turtle education and...

Predators increasing their attacks on sea turtle nests

BY ARLENE HALL, BGSTA SECRETARY The good news is we have seen our first hatchlings this past week. The bad news is that they hatched and emerged from their nest, but unfortunately a coyote dug...