Mote hatches plan to help hatchlings

+ Mote hatches plan to help hatchlings
After 33 loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings became disoriented recently after emerging from their nests in Venice and near Palma Sola Bay, in Manatee County, Mote Marine Laboratory released them Thursday, Sept. 9 about 8 miles from shore in seaweed called sargassum. The sargassum provides protection from predators and serves as a foraging habitat for the hatchlings.

“They’ll ride the Loop Current into the Atlantic Ocean to spend the next part of their life cycle in the Sargasso Sea,” said Mote’s Sea Turtle Care Coordinator Holly West.