Turtle tracks: Turtle facts you might not know
Have you ever wondered what kind of data the The Boca Grande Sea Turtle Patrol Team with its 26 volunteers documents? Specific data of every single sea turtle nest on the Island including their GPS coordinates, complete with specific nesting data, along with hand drawn crawl renderings, providing vital information for official records.
Patrollers are permitted by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Gasparilla Island is divided into 8 individual zones and each morning from May 1 until Oct. 31 the volunteers carefully document all new nests and each new false crawl.
The Boca Grande Sea Turtle Patrol Team volunteers patrol the beach zones watching over the nests and care for them as needed. When the sea turtle season grows to a close, they also document the number of hatchlings hatched and unhatched, the number of hatchlings destroyed, and the number of dead and alive hatchlings in the nests and count the total of all the eggs in the nests. The patrol mainly documents the activity of the loggerhead sea turtle, but has recently documented an uptick in green sea turtle nests as well. The loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta) is easily distinguished by its relatively large head. The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) gets its name from the greenish color of its body fat and has the presence of a pair of scales on the front of its forehead. The loggerhead and the green sea turtle alike create specific tracks in the sand providing clues for identification.
The mission of all “Turtle Patrol” is to nurture and promote an environment which contributes to the healthy propagation of the sea turtle population. Together with the assistance of public and private support agencies, the aim of our local BGSTA organization is to provide turtle patrol volunteers with the necessary equipment and materials to monitor sea turtle embryos and hatchlings. Training manuals, log books, wood stakes, uniforms, and other similar resources assist patrollers in promoting safe and natural treks for sea turtles as they enter the waters of the Gulf of Mexico in their journey toward adulthood.
All species of sea turtles in Florida are listed as either threatened or endangered by the federal Endangered Species Act. Additionally, sea turtles are protected by Florida Statute 370.12, the Marine Turtle Protection Act. Anyone found harassing a sea turtle or interfering with the nesting process faces criminal and civil penalties.
If you have questions, witness violations or if you see an injured, disoriented, or dead adult turtle or hatchlings wandering in a road, parking lot or in directions other then the water contact:
• Denise Juergens: (941) 999-7177
• Florida Marine Patrol, 1-800-DIALFMP or 1-800-342-5367
• FWC, Division of Law Enforcement: (888) 404-FWCC or *FWC from your cell phone.
