Waties Island Nest Count

Sunday, May 24, 2015

First Nest of the 2015 Season

Nesting Season has officially started on Waties Island. It seems that the turtle who did a false crawl on Friday night made a return visit last night and this time she found a better spot to lay her nest. Nest #1 is just a short distance above the beach entrance and before Marker 3.

This is a loggerhead nest, the most common of the sea turtles here in South Carolina.


Looks like the real thing

Steve looking for the egg chamber

Kristin, Samantha and Renee looking for the eggs
Kristin showing first time volunteers, Samantha and Renee, how to dig to find the eggs. One egg shell was collected for the DNA study to identify the mother turtles who nest along our beaches.

Found them!

Nest #1 Family Photo



















Now we just have to wait: 55 to 65 days (or maybe a little more; the first nest always seems to take a little extra time) for signs of hatchlings making their way to the ocean.

Barb and Steve

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Turtle Crawl Today!!!

The beginning of the season on Waties Island! A beautiful morning and a long walk up the beach to the jetty where the first crawl of the season was discovered.

Exciting find today


A quick turn around - no nesting attempt this time

Outbound crawl right on top of inbound
There was no attempted nest here; it appeared to be a quick in and out - False Crawl #1. But she may come back tonight and try again.

The tide was really low this morning and we were able to get around the bottom end of the island. That end has changed so much, it is hard to recognize. Still beautiful.


A live knobbed welk 

And a big clam!

The reusable trash bags - they are too pretty for trash

Love the design on the bag too - beach trash items
Hoping for another crawl tomorrow!

Barb and Steve

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Friday, May 15, 2015

A new year on Waties

Tropical storm Ana left our island with new images and
much erosion.

Jetty and Marker 7
are  two good examples.
Christine Bergh,
thanks for the photos.