Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch loses track of Amie, a female loggerhead sea turtle

BRADENTON BEACH -- A satellite transmitter attached to a female loggerhead sea turtle several months ago has stopped sending a signal.

Amie, as the turtle was named, crawled into the Gulf of Mexico in late June 2015 after the transmitter worth thousands was glued to her reddish brown shell with an adhesive by the Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Monitoring group and the Sea Turtle Conservancy. AMITW officials detained Amie after she laid between 100 and 150 eggs in a nest on Coquina Beach.

The move to track Amie was an effort by both organizations to help scientists determine where turtles that lay their eggs on the island mate and migrate, as well as other spots they might rest.

"The loss of the transmission of the satellite tag does not mean there's anything wrong with Amie. We believe she's OK," said AMITW Executive Director Suzi Fox. "It's not an indication of any danger to her, it just means that the transmitter quit."

The tag transmitted Amie's location until Dec. 15, when she was in the Gulf of Mexico off Collier County. After realizing no new signals were being tracked, Fox said the first thing she did was contact Maura Kraus, principal environmental specialist for Collier County government. She asked Kraus to please keep an eye out for any turtle that may be sick, injured or dead that washes ashore -- and to check for the transmitter. Fox said Kraus responded that she would notify her if she sees anything.

Fox listed several possible scenarios that could have led to the loss of transmission.

"The transmitter could have fallen off -- it could be crusted over with growth," she said. "It's possible it could kick up and start working again."

Lexie Beach, spokeswoman for the Gainesville-based Sea Turtle Conservancy, agreed with Fox.

"Loggerheads like Amie are especially susceptible to getting a lot of growth on their shells like algae or barnacles. That is definitely a possibility that would block the transmitter from sending signals," Beach said. "It might have just fallen off. It really depends with our turtles. ... Sometimes the transmitters stay on for several months, even several years. Sometimes, they do fall off a lot sooner."

The satellite was paid for with $5,000 awarded to AMITW by the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce, from revenues from advertisements on island trolleys.

According to Beach, the Sea Turtle Conservancy plans on returning to the island this upcoming summer to help place a satellite transmitter on another sea turtle.

"I would say, as a first year (on Anna Maria Island), it was successful," she said. "We still learned a lot from Amie's travels and I think that was a really cool experience for everyone in that area."

According to the Sea Turtle Conservancy's website, which keeps the latest information on sea turtle tracking, Amie swam a total of 992 miles before the signal stopped. She first traveled south and spent some time around Key West.

"It's interesting that she immediately went off shore and zoomed south and all the way to the Keys," Fox said with a laugh. "It was lobster season ... so she ran down, had her little lobster and then came up and found the Ten Thousand Islands around Naples, which is a fabulous area for sea turtles."

Amaris Castillo, law enforcement/island reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7051. Follow her on Twitter@AmarisCastillo.

This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 6:19 PM with the headline "Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch loses track of Amie, a female loggerhead sea turtle ."