Nest #3 Still At Large

Apparently Friday morning walkers aren't the only ones who love cruising in the back of Valerie's pick up truck...this adorable little froggy took a ride with us!

We got some really pretty views of the sunrise beyond the shed...first red sunrise we've seen in awhile! No more clouds today!

    The big news of course, is the turtle nest. Nest number three still hasn't hatched yet, no tracks and no depression, however the crab holes are really tunneling in there. Weekend walkers keep an eye out, because it won't be long. :)

Nothing Yet on Nest #3

With the super moon recently, the high tides have been very high.  Two of our nests, though laid high on the beach, did have a tide wash.

Nest #2 - a Big Surprise!!

We had serious concerns about Nest #2 (the first documented nest laid by turtle # 807 on Waties Island) when we first inventoried the nest on Wednesday, August 6th.  Steve & Barb decided it was best to cover the nest and wait an additional 3 days and inventory again on Saturday (see previous post).  We were really expecting to find a nest of dead baby sea turtles after the Friday team reported a ghost crab hole over the nest and an unpleasant odor coming from it.  So a small group went out on the high tide morning and inventoried the nest.  It was a very deep nest which may have contributed to the difficulties this nest seemed to have.  We were AMAZED at what we found!
94 hatched eggs, 32 unhatched (which included 2 partially developed turtles) and 9 LIVE babies!!  A 74% hatch rate, which is just below average.

These were the first two babies retrieved from the nest...so cute!

They get so excited once they feel the water for the first time, it energizes them and they go even faster to get out to sea.

This little baby #8 to emerge was very deep in the nest which may have contributed to his slightly deformed shell.  He was mighty determined to get to sea and didn't let this extra challenge hold him back!!

The race is on...

Our special sea turtle (#8) gets around just fine.

This is baby #9 (with #8 in the background), he still has the yolk sack attached to him.

Patrick finishing the dig

Patrick, Steve and Tracye counting eggs.  Note how high the tide is, it actually went down a foot or two while we were at the nest.

Final inventory -- Such an exciting morning.  We were all expecting a somber experience and left the beach elated.  This was the Saturday Team's first nest find of the season, so it was great to be the group doing the inventory as well.
Looking forward to nest #3!!

Nest 2 Update

Nothing too eventful on our walk today, however we noticed a large crab hole in the center of our recently almost-inventoried nest, nest number 2.

 There was also clear washover where the tide had swept debris to the front of the cage and filled up our  chamber, along with a pungent odor in the air.

A shot of the tide line (below)

We also noticed two crab holes on Nest 6 close to the post. One can never be too sure of the intentions of crabs, but it may indicate activity.

Thanks to Dave and Valerie for shuttling us out in the back of their pickup truck--it's always a fun ride and a gorgeous view. :)

Nest 2 Inventory! 8/6/2014

Today was, as usual, a beautiful day on Waites island. Everyone piled together in Barb and Steve's large pickup truck for the inventory--and it was STILL necessary to make two separate trips. These little turtles have no idea how much excitement they create.

Soon after making our way to the beach, Barb & Steve took us back down to the nest (accompanied by Paulette) and we proceeded to dig. As usual, there were many volunteers to get their hands in the sand for this fabulous event. 

The sand was pretty packed down from all the rain we've had lately. It took a while of digging before we made our way into the egg chamber. There was one perfectly hatched eggshell right at the surface of the pit, but the very next thing we found was...

 A baby sea turtle! Holding one of these little guys never gets old. Of course, as soon as he was pulled out, we quickly got him to the water's edge to begin the start of a long journey.

 Immediately after, however, more turtles were found...

And still more!

After uncovering a fifth turtle, it was decided that some of the soft sand be kicked back in so the clearly relevant numbers could have a chance to climb to the surface on their own--this time with looser sand on top rather than the hard crust the rain had made.

 Those who did make it out, however, were escorted to the water and given a shady trail made by the legs, feet, and outstretched t-shirts of willing volunteers.

Almost there!

All the turtles released swam successfully and made their way out to the water. We all cheered as the final little head came up, took a breath, and then disappeared beneath the breakers. Barb and Steve then made the two trips to return volunteers and guests (all happy from the encounter) back to the shed before returning a third time with a cage to cover the disturbed nest site.

The customary trench from previous seasons was dug, and a cage was planted loosely in the sand to protect the turtles in the coming days in case a predator might disturb the revealed pit.

Meanwhile, I managed to get a shot of a magnificent phenomenon rarely captured on film.

Barb and Steve, our intrepid and impossibly humble leaders, who appear in few photos even when apart--are BOTH IN THE SAME PICTURE.

I'm just waiting for my call from National Geographic.

Nest #8 !!!

After three days of rain, thunder, lightning and no walkers on the beach, finally the Monday team was able to make it out to the island. But not for long: shortly after they arrived, another show of lightning came along.

BUT before their abbreviated walk ended, they came across a very promising crawl - just above the entrance, faint washed out tracks could be seen going up to a perfect spot in the dunes. It was raining by the time we found the eggs and the gnats were in force, but nevertheless, we now have our 8th nest of the season. Good job!

Sandy and Kim digging

Those tracks were from yesterday 

Kim's got it

While the tide was still low and we had the truck to protect us from the storms, we rode up to the jetty to check on Nest 2 and 3. Nest 2 was 65 days old as of today and Nest 3 was 53. Good news! Nest 2 emerged: there was hole over the nest chamber and the hint of tracks in the loose sand. All the other tracks to the water had been washed away by those weekend storms.

They've made their escape to the water

And you never know what will wash up on that beach --
How do these things float??

Nest #1 Inventory

We had a very large group join us the morning of July 31st for our first inventory.  Some from as far away as Rome.  Here Barb explains to our visitors exactly what we will be doing and why.  She tells them that this nest hatched at 60 days and that we wait three days to do the inventory to make sure all hatchlings have emerged.

To get started, Barb passes out gloves to those who will be taking part in the inventory.  This is done to prevent cross contamination.

The nest is opened up.  Right from the beginning, unhatched eggs are found.

As they progress, and further into the nest, a hatchling that did not make it is found.

The final results of nest one's inventory: 83 hatched, 32 unhatched for a total of 115 eggs.  (Two hatchlings did not make it.)

Hatch success ratio = 71.5%
Slightly lower than our yearly average for last season.

Mean hatch success for our 14 nests in 2013 was 74.2%.  We still have 6 more nests to go with a possibility of 1 or 2 more nests.

Barb is seen here recording the results which will then be entered into a state data base.

The contents of the nest are returned to nature.

Bill collects the gloves to make sure they are not left on the beach.









Valerie