Longboat Turtle Walk hosts final walk of the summer

By Carlin Gillen
| 2:45 p.m. July 28, 2025

Longboat Key
Neighbors

As the sun is just beginning to rise, Longboat Key Turtle Watch volunteers have been up for much longer in preparation to host its Saturday walk and talk group.

At 6:45 a.m. on July 26, as about 20 people begin to gather along the shore, the volunteers hosted their final education walk of the summer.

Volunteers, who go through training at the Mote Marine Laboratory, say what happens in these walks can be unpredictable. Each walk is informative and educational, but there could be a time when volunteers may help disoriented turtles or hatchlings.

Which is exactly what happened to volunteer Caleb Jameson when he first attended the turtle walks as a child. At his first walk, he was able to help save a turtle from disorientation and name it Sunrise.

This catapulted Jameson's interest, and he is currently getting his degree in marine biology at the New College of Florida.

“You have to go through their training [Mote], be on permit, walk for a couple years and then be tested out in the field,” explained Connie Schindewolf on how one can become a volunteer.

On this last walk, the group could see how turtle nest data is collected and counted, where volunteers excavate the nest (three days after nest has hatched) and count the number of hatched and un-hatched eggs, as well as measure the depth of the nest. The data collected on Saturday was 81 hatched, 19 un-hatched and 63 cm to the bottom.

Go to LBKTurtleWatch.com to learn more about how you can support.

Turtle Watch group all walks together to learn more about turtles and their nesting habits.

Caleb Jameson collecting data from turtle tracks.

A plethora of trash was found just from the walk to the first location.

Many turtle tracks can be found throughout the beach, sometimes turtles will change their mind and go back to the ocean like tracks are depicting here.

The Turtle Watch group walks to first location bright and early on Saturday morning.

Much of the necessary tools needed for a morning of turtle monitoring as a volunteer.

Volunteers Sam DiGiammarino separates the hatched and un-hatched, Brenda Jameson collected the eggs from the nest while Caleb Jameson writes down the collected data.

A small collection of the hatched and un-hatched eggs found in the turtle nest.

Connie Schindewolf leads the Longboat Key Turtle Watch.

Volunteers Sam DiGiammarino and Brenda Jameson work together to count up the number of hatched and un-hatched eggs in the turtle nest.

The information data collected while counting the number of hatched and un-hatched eggs in a nest.

Volunteer Caleb Jameson shows turtle trackers that are used for further research.

The group of the turtle watchers all crowd around to see the turtle nest that has been dug up by volunteers for research.

author

Carlin Gillen

Carlin Gillen is an intern reporter for the Observer. Originally from Lakewood Ranch, she studies journalism and English at the University of Mississippi. She loves photography, writing and finding a story to tell within everyone.