Friday, May 26 - False Crawl #1

 Dreary, windy, chilly, drizzly. But, it’s Waties😊 And a crawl😊…. But no nest😞

33” crawl located midway on the island, about 100 ft before Nest #1. Appears she came in just before high tide. Incoming and outgoing tracks approximately the same length. Crawled up to the foot of the dune. Wind and rain had obscured much of the area. No real defined body pit. There was a high area next to her turning around spot, but no evidence of thrown sand or disrupted vegetation. 

We were encouraged by early probing when the probe dropped into a soft spot, and, with high hopes, we started digging. We soon realized we were probing and digging in an area where the dune face had fallen in a “landslide” resulting in a large area of very soft sand. In several spots the probe would go in up to the handle, and dug up sand kept falling into the holes. 

 We did probe and dig extensively, but were unable to locate a nest. Perhaps this was a case where mama was able to determine the sand at that spot would be unable to provide the support needed to complete a nest, causing her to move on. Hopefully she will return tonight! 

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                                               Nest #1 resting comfortably 

 

Waties Island performs research and management activities regarding sea turtle conservation in accordance under SCDNR Permit Number: MTP500.