While doing my Airport Transportation business Traveling from Florida International Airports in Tampa, Orlando, Ft Meyers, Sarasota to our beautiful barrier island beaches here in the Sarasota / Bradenton area, I have time to discuss many of the current activities happening.
If our travelers are staying on or near the beaches then the annual “Turtle Watch”is a very pleasurable activity. COME JOIN US!
The loggerhead turtle is the most common sea turtle found in Florida. It has a reddish-brown shell and is named for its large head. Adults can weigh between 200 and 350 pounds and can reach 3 feet in length. Loggerheads typically nest in Florida from April to September. Sea turtle eggs have an incubation period of about two months.
A loggerhead sea turtle laying eggs.
Females return to their nesting beach every two or more years (average 2.7 years) to lay an average of 4.1 clutches, one about every 14 days. Each nest contains an average of 114 eggs.
The average loggerhead measures around 35 inches in length when fully grown, although some larger specimens up to 110 inches have been discovered. The adult loggerhead sea turtle weighs approximately 298 lb, with the largest specimens weighing in at more than 1,000 lb.
Immediately upon leaving its nest, each hatchling will scramble to the Gulf of Mexico and began an epic 8,000-mile solo journey around the North Atlantic basin.
Range of the loggerhead sea turtle
Please respect marked sea turtle nests. These are marked with 4 tall wooden sticks and thin colored plastic tape which connects all four wooden sticks. There will be a sign attached with an approximate date of egg laying.
A veteran Longboat Key Turtle Walk volunteer, Connie Schindewolf, conducts
turtle nesting beach walks on Saturdays, Starting June18th and ending July 30th.
Connie meets interested vacationers at the Public Beach Access at 4795 Gulf
of Mexico Drive on Longboat Key, at 6:45 am.
