This was the first sea turtle nest found on Anna Maria Island this year, on May 4 at Bean Point. It is due to hatch on June 28, although predictingwhen baby sea turtles will emerge from the ground and take to the sea is not an exact science. MARC R. MASFERRER/Bradenton Herald.

ANNA MARIA ISLAND — Beachgoers may have noticed an influx of new building in the past few weeks, totaling 116 new structures as of Wednesday, thanks to some unconventional local developers.

According to statistics from the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch, Manatee beaches are now home to 116 new sea turtle nests this season alone, an unprecedented amount for the area throughout its recorded history. Usually by now in the season, there are about 50 nests.

Last summer, there were a total of 145 nests, and nesting is expected to continue through at least mid-July.

“You know, we really haven’t heard anything,” said Will Scott, a 35-year-old Manatee resident and avid beachgoer. “You just come out to the beach one day, there they are.”

Suzi Fox, turtle watch director and longtime wild

life conservationist, believes the spike in nesting turtles may simply have resulted from human conservation efforts.

“We believe we may be seeing the return of all the juvenile turtles who benefitted from the adoption of TEDs (Turtle Excluding Devices) in the nets of fishermen around 20 years ago,” Fox said.

The other theory proposed by Fox is that their “head start” programs are starting to see some returns. These programs, which ran from 1987 through 1990, involved gathering baby turtles as they hatched and relocating them to conservation facilities where they were kept and raised for the first year of their lives before being returned to the sea.

Considering it takes a loggerhead turtle about 30 years to reach maturity, it’s not too far-fetched to believe that this may very well be a timely manifestation of the benefits of human involvement in sea turtle conservation.

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