Longboat Key Turtle Watch patrollers start preseason walks

One of the Longboat Key Turtle Watch’s founders, Orville “Top Turtle” Clayton, used to say that when the water hit 80 degrees, “that’s when the girls come in,” said turtle patroller Connie Schindewolf. But Schindewolf, a 39-year turtle patroller, judges it by when her orchid blooms. 

“It’s about three-quarters bloomed now,” she said. 

So even though she hit the beach at 6:45 a.m. April 15, she didn’t expect to find any signs of nesting turtles. Sea turtle nesting season begins May 1, but Turtle Watch patrollers head out two weeks early to make sure no one gets missed. 

A day in the life of a preseason patroller looks a little different than it will by May. Although all of the group’s volunteers are signed up to hit the beach by April 15, it’s not the end of the world if a couple can’t make it or if, like in the case of a few teachers on the roster, they can’t start until summer. On April 15, she was alone because of her two partners being busy with taxes and recovering from foot surgery. Her walk from the Manatee County line to Covert II on Gulf of Mexico Drive was brisk and she didn’t carry any stakes to mark nests. Her routine will be to park at one end of the walk with a partner, drive to the other end, walk and keep an eye out for nests and then drive back to the car that was left behind. 

“When we have more of us (early in the season), someone is dedicated to picking up trash, and it makes things go smoother,” Schindewolf said. “We need to do all we can to allow them to nest and do what they do. If you don’t dwell on what we have to do new this year, everything’s really optimistic and positive and that’s what good about the beginning of the year.” 

When the season starts, the data collection for Schindewolf’s Zone D will look different from previous years. Because part of it was renourished during last year’s project, more data is required. Renourishment areas are monitored for several years to see how the turtles react to it, so every other nest will be regularly monitored rather than every fourth nest on other stretches. Every nest on the beach is monitored daily, but nests that are deemed “staked and monitored” will be excavated after it hatches and turtle patrollers will dig down to find the top egg when the nest is first found. About one third of Zone D will be like that. 

“They need to have that data to see if the turtles like the sand,” Schindewolf said. 

For now, Schindewolf is enjoying the calm of the early season. Although she likes the hustle and bustle of May, June and July when lots of mothers are coming onto the beaches and nests start hatching out, there’s something lovely about April. 

“It’s wonderful in the early season because we know we’re not going to be on the beach forever. We know we’re not going to get overheated. It’s nice and cool,” Schindewolf said. “We’re watching for tracks, but the early season is probably the best.” 

Nests aren’t expected until late April, but volunteers place bets on when they’ll see the first ones. Schindewolf used to bet on May 18 because that’s her daughter’s birthday, but turtles now come earlier because waters get warmer sooner. 

“We have a lottery and put in a dollar and a date, and this year I put April 28,” Schindewolf said. “It just came to me.” 

The rest of the month will likely continue to go as quickly as a 2.5-mile beach walk can. Schindewolf will keep her eyes peeled for false crawls and nests until her partners can come back and help in time for data collection. Luckily, she likes waking up early. 

“Just the anticipation of knowing the turtles are out there and coming in soon, it’s just a feeling of starting fresh in a way,” Schindewolf said. “It’s better the turtles don’t go all year long because I might suffer burnout. But after being away from it for six months, I’m ready to go. And you have to have that attitude because once the season gets going, it’s hard physical work.”