Sea turtle nesting season runs from May 1 through October 31, and on Anna Maria Island, volunteers are working before sunrise every day to make sure every hatchling has the best chance of making it to the water.
The Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch sends volunteers out each morning to check on the local sea turtle population. Part of that work includes excavating nests that have already hatched — digging them up to count hatched eggs and rescue any stragglers that couldn't make it out on their own.
During one recent excavation of a nest that hatched three days prior, Tampa Bay 28 reporter Blake Phillips was there as volunteers found six live baby loggerhead sea turtles still inside.
Kristen Mazzarella, executive director of the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch, said the finds are always meaningful.
"It's always exciting to see a baby turtle or a hatchling."
Mazzarella said those moments also carry an important message.
"It's also a great educational experience because when people see those baby turtles, everything hits home about how to protect them," said Mazzarella.
But not every story ends well. Mazzarella said her organization regularly receives calls about hatchlings that never reach the water. Baby turtles can get trapped in sand castles built by beachgoers or become disoriented by lights left on at homes along the beach and crawl away from the water, sometimes into the road or a pool.
Mazzarella said there are clear steps everyone can take — whether they live on the island or are just visiting.
"Taking all their beach furniture off the beach at night, leaving a nice clean flat beach, so take away your trash as well," said Mazzarella.
She said holes dug in the sand are another serious hazard.
"We also want people to fill in their holes and knock down their sand castles. The hatchlings have a lot of things to crawl over on their way to the water, and we don't want them to get stuck in a hole and not be able to make it out," said Mazzarella.
And again, lights from nearby homes are also a major threat to hatchlings.
"The hatchlings, their only cue is the white light of the stars over the water, and so they want to go towards that white light, but if there are brighter white lights in another direction, they're going to go towards them," said Mazzarella.
Beachgoers are also reminded never to shine a flashlight on a turtle nest or use a camera flash near one.
For more information, head to the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch's website.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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