Nest #3 Inventory

This morning we inventoried the contents of Nest #3. This one emerged on Monday - see the crater where they came out?

An emergence overnight

Waiting three day, on Thursday morning, we started the inventory only to find lots of hatchlings just below the surface!

CCU Sea Turtle Club members helping to dig

That blur in the center is a fast moving hatchling

So we quickly recovered the nest, but released the two hatchlings who were already out on the beach.

Today, when we finally got to empty the nest cavity, we found 34 hatched eggshells, 6 unhatched eggs and 2 tiny spacer eggs, something we don't often see. No live or dead hatchlings.

Spacer eggs

The DNA results on this mother show that this is the first season she has been documented as nesting in NC, SC or GA. She is probably a new mother which might account for the smaller number of eggs in the nest. Earlier this season, she laid two nests on Ocean Isle Beach before coming to Waties.

Only one more nest to go!

Thanks to Leslie and Karen H. for sharing their photos,

Barb and Steve