Waties Island Sea Turtles: 9/19/2022 Wild Nest Over Dune aka Nest 26

Monday, September 19, 2022

9/19/2022 Wild Nest Over Dune aka Nest 26

It was a beautiful start to the morning, with the sunrise greeting us as soon as we got to the beach. With two guests, we had plenty of people to patrol the whole island.

We all walked the longer end of the beach, with some stopping wherever they'd like along the way. Leslie, JoAnn and Erin walked all the way to m8 to ensure all nests got checked, others stopped around m4 or m5. Nest 23 and PN7 looked normal, and we could still see the tracks from Nest 18's emergence.

Leslie, JoAnn and Erin got right past m6 when they noticed hatchling tracks in the sand. They followed the tracks and noticed they went up and over to the back side of the dune. When at the top of the dune, Erin noticed some live hatchlings behind the dune, trying to find their way to the water. JoAnn grabbed a bucket and sand, and the rest of the volunteers met the others to help look for hatchlings.

The view of hatchling tracks from the top of the dune looking towards the water.

The view of hatchling tracks up the back of the dunes, from behind the dunes.

With all hands-on deck, all the volunteers and guests walked all over the back of the dunes finding hatchlings everywhere they looked. Once it seemed like they found them all, they looked for the nest and noticed it on the back side of the dune, where it would have been very difficult for a hatchling to get to the water. 46 hatchlings were found on the back side of the dune, and 4 were found on the beach side, totaling 50 hatchlings found.

Volunteers and guests searching everywhere for hatchlings and the nest.

Finally, the nest cavity!

The area patrolled for hatchlings.

All hatchlings were released into the ocean, and it was a sight to see. After releasing the hatchlings, the nest was marked, and the rest of the island was patrolled.