Waties Island Nest Count

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Tuesday, 9.12.17 The Day after Hurricane Irma

This morning, the turtle patrol set out to check  the last three nests for activity, but due to the wind and rain from Hurricane Irma, any activity was not visible. It started out as a calm morning, but quickly turned into a light rain that soaked everyone to the skin.

Although we did not see any turtle activity, we did see changes to the landscape due to the hurricane and was surprised to see the sailboat is slowly being consumed by the surf and sand. There also was surprisingly little trash and zero sea treasurers.





More drift wood trees added to the landscape


This one was full of barnacles. Found on the south side of the island. 
Barb said she remembered this being on the north side previously.



Sand falling from this high dune


The force of the waves have freshly stripped the bark from these downed trees.




These ghost crabs have escaped to the top of the dune.


This edge looked very unstable. Note that this is low tide, but the water is now high into the island. We have been unable to see this part of the island this season due to the below debris piling up at the turn, however the storm had moved the debris around the turn allowing us to see past it. 


Imagine how the shoreline looked before, You could almost draw a straight line. 
At low tide, it has still greatly encroached onto the island. 





On the drive back to the shed, you will notice 
the many reeds that have washed over the causeway. 









Blog by Regena Heilmann


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