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Turtle nestingFalse crawls

Habitat2009201020092010

Gasparilla Island22613489119

Little Gasparilla Island 86 6288 54

Manasota Key1,1959141,3561,385

Source: Coastal Wildlife Club. False crawls=Turtle emerges from water but does not nest.

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Gasparilla Island turtle nesting hit a milestone Monday with the first two successful hatches of the season.

"There was more excitement Sunday on the island as we had another green turtle nest. And seven new nests were dug Monday and two nests hatched," reported Norma Jean Zvosec of the Coastal Watchers Club, which monitors nests on the beach. "They are coming and going now."

Gasparilla Island continues to run nearly 41 percent behind last year's totals with 92 fewer nests now than a year ago and a total of just 134.

Turtle nesting had improved three consecutive weeks after the May 1 start of the season but more ground was lost in the last two weeks.

Experts blame cold winter weather for delayed and reduced nesting. The X factor remains the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which could be preventing untold numbers of turtles from ever reaching a beach.

2010 nesting numbers at Manasota Key beaches and on Little Gasparilla Island are also well off 2009 levels.

The 62 Little Gasparilla Island turtle nests are down 28 percent from the 86 established this time last year.

On Manasota Beach, where the greatest number of turtles nest in all of Southwest Florida, 914 turtles have laid eggs - down 23.5 percent from the 1,195 nesting last year at this time.

The CWC watches for green and loggerhead sea turtles, and Kemp's Ridleys.

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