Waties Island Nest Count

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Final Event of the Season

Yesterday, we had our year end celebration of this record breaking year. A picnic on our favorite beach!

Everyone brought a dish to share and Karen brought a BEAUTIFUL cake - Cakes by the Sea does amazing things with sugar and flour.


Karen gave a summary of the nesting season on Waties followed by the partial DNA results that have been reported to far. Ten of our 28 samples have been completed and when they are all finally in, we'll share the whole picture with everyone.




After lunch (some really yummy dishes!), people had a chance to check out what changes Hurricane Matthew made to the island. The lower end certainly looks different now.


Some trees no longer have anything covering their roots - 



These last two pictures are from a OLLI beach sweep that was conducted last Friday. Hurricane Matthew sure made changes to the upper end of the island too. Some dunes are totally missing now. But the island may look entirely different by next spring; we will see what Mother Nature has in store when we return for the next sea turtle season.



Thanks to Regena for sharing her photos from the picnic.

Look forward to seeing everyone again next season!

Barb and Steve