Rainy Season, Hurricane Season and Sea Turtle Nesting Converge on Anna Maria Island
As Florida’s rainy season begins and hurricane season approaches, sea turtle nesting activity is already underway along the beaches of Anna Maria Island, creating a critical period for wildlife conservation efforts across the Gulf Coast.
The National Weather Service identifies the Tampa Bay area’s rainy season as running from May 25 through Oct. 10, while the Atlantic hurricane season officially begins June 1 and continues through Nov. 30. Those weather patterns overlap almost entirely with sea turtle nesting season, which extends from May 1 through Oct. 31.
During nesting season, female sea turtles emerge from the Gulf overnight to lay eggs in the sand before returning to the water. The eggs typically incubate for about 55 days before hatchlings emerge and instinctively crawl toward the Gulf to begin their ocean journey.
Heavy rainfall, tropical storms and hurricanes can threaten nests by washing over nesting areas or eroding beaches. Some nests and eggs are lost during severe weather events, while others survive and hatch successfully despite storms.
According to Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring, nests are not relocated or removed due to storm threats. The organization focuses on documenting nesting activity and monitoring human impacts on coastal wildlife, such as beach renourishment projects and disturbances caused by people.
Sea turtles have developed natural survival strategies over millions of years, including laying large numbers of eggs to improve the chances that some hatchlings survive to adulthood.
Research has also shown how adult sea turtles respond to major storms. During Hurricane Irene in 2011, researchers tracked 18 adult and juvenile loggerhead sea turtles fitted with satellite transmitters in the Atlantic Ocean. Most turtles shifted northward with surface currents during the storm, possibly to conserve energy. Others remained in place but changed their behavior by extending dive times to an hour or longer, compared with typical dives lasting less than 30 minutes.
Researchers also found that turtles altered their migration patterns after the hurricane passed, moving south earlier than expected and failing to return to normal pre-storm behaviors within two weeks.
Meanwhile, shorebird nesting activity is also increasing on Anna Maria Island beaches. AMITW reported May 22 that black skimmer and least tern nesting colonies in Bradenton Beach continue to expand, with 36 black skimmer nests and 14 least tern nests currently under incubation.
To help protect the colonies, volunteers installed crow effigies designed to deter fish crows from preying on eggs. Nesting areas are also staked and marked off to reduce human disturbance.
AMITW continues its educational outreach efforts through Turtle Tracks & Shorebird Facts, a free weekly presentation held at 10 a.m. Mondays through August at Holmes Beach City Hall.
As of May 22, AMITW reported 30 sea turtle nests and 42 false crawls on Anna Maria Island beaches.