BRADENTON BEACH, Fla. — A Manatee County turtle watch group says a loggerhead sea turtle that had just nested near Coquina Beach was hit and killed by a car early Wednesday morning.

What You Need To Know

  • A loggerhead sea turtle was hit and killed by a car along Gulf Drive South in Bradenton Beach early Wednesday

  • A representative from Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch & Shorebird Monitoring said the turtle had just nested on Coquina Beach and was likely disoriented by street lights

  • Kristen Mazzarella, the group's executive director, said action will need to be taken to protect the turtle's nest, which is in view of the lights

"I was devastated to hear that she was hit," said Kristen Mazzarella, executive director of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch & Shorebird Monitoring (AMITWSBM). "One female can produce five-to-seven nests in a season, and so losing a female is a huge loss for that year, as well as for future years.

Mazzarella said the loggerhead had just nested and was likely disoriented by a street light over a crosswalk when it was hit on Gulf Drive South. She said situations like this aren't uncommon on Anna Maria Island. According to AMITWSBM, of the 404 nests on the island last year, 105 involved disoriented turtles.

"Not all of them went to the road," Mazzarella said. "Some of them may have gone to a house or pool lights or lights. Again, by people walking on the beach at night — it could just be a cell phone light."

Loggerheads are protected as a threatened species under the Federal Endangered Species Act. According to information from AMITWSBM, turning lights off, using red or amber LED bulbs, and shielding them from the beach can all help stop turtles from wandering away from the water.

When it comes to solutions on Gulf Dr. South, Mazzarella said it could be tough. The road is right up against the beach parking lot, and she said balancing appropriate lighting to keep drivers and pedestrians safe while protecting sea turtles could be a challenge.

"We learn from every situation, and so we're going to learn from this one as to whether or not those lights were sufficiently shielded or in the right spectrum," Mazzarella said.

She said those could be among the methods AMITWSBM looks into to protect the turtle's nest. 

"It's also in direct view of the lights that are on the road, and so we will have to either take some kind of action to prevent them from going towards those lights or see if those lights can have something happen to them, like get shielded," Mazzarella said.

Anyone who sees a turtle in distress on Anna Maria Island can call AMITWSBM at (941) 301-8434 or the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922.