Nest #3 and False Crawls #15, 16 & 17 - It was an Extraordinary day!

Today is exactly two weeks since the Thursday walkers discovered Nest #1. Nest #3 found today, by those same walkers, may even be the same turtle; the interval is about right.  This nest is between Marker 8 & 9 and well above the high tide line so it should be fine. In addition, we also found three additional false crawls, at least one of which was our special needs turtle, DeeDee. (She is still desperately determined!)  These additional crawls bring the number of false crawls to 17.

More exciting news for our area: North Myrtle Beach had their first nest of the season. Donna (our Monday walker) came upon the turtle still in the process of finishing up her nest near the swash at 48th Ave S.

It was a very productive day for all!
 (Barb and Steve)

 The day started out threatening rain, this rainbow showed us that we were in for a glorious day!

 The high tide made us walk a little faster to get around the bend before losing ground.

There are always beautiful things to photograph! 

We get the call that four crawls are discovered and quickly get to work.

 This one is empty.

 This is probably DeeDee

 Probing each one

 Found one promising to be a nest!

It is storming hard in Little River, but we remain dry!

 This Ghost crab was nestled in a turtle track, trying to be invisible!

 But not for long!

 This turtle had a very distinct "S" swirl in her crawl.

 Another false crawl

 Confirmed eggs in a nest!

 Carefully extracting one egg for DNA testing

 Unearthed by Elaine (r) and Sarah Glenn (l)

 Today was Sarah Glenn's first day with our group

 The yolk of the sacrificed egg.

 The egg shell packaged and ready to be submitted for DNA testing

 Final measurements

Waties Island Nest #3 - Documented!

(Photo journal by Regena)

14th False Crawl in a Row

6/11/14 Wednesday, 14th false crawl in a row!

Wednesday's walkers coming back from east end

Dee Dee's Back!

Probed 5 separate possible sites,
hundreds of 'pokes', nothing!

Discussing the situation

The crew!

Whelk egg casings

Tiny Ghost Crab, he was about 1" wide and blended with the sand.

Not sure what kind of paw print this is, but had a 2 1/2 - 3 foot stride.  Scary big paw!

We may not have found a nest today, but enjoyed the scenery on the North end.

TODAY MAKES 13 FALSE CRAWLS

Just above the entrance and before mm #3, our turtle with only a partial flipper, tried to lay her eggs for the 13th time.  Soon we will stop trying and put them in the ocean.  It will be 2 weeks, give or take a few days, before she tries again.  If she does.

She has to be very tired!!!!

Valerie

June 8 - More False Crawls

June 8, 2014 Two more False Crawls

Two more crawls were discovered this morning, both just above the entrance and only a few yards east of yesterday's crawl. We marked the most recent one as FC #10. It appears that she came up once earlier in the evening, returned without nesting, but came up a second time close by.  The tracks from the first crawl were a little wind blown while those of the second crawl were still sharp.  

No photos taken today.

(As reported by Barb and Steve)

We're Going to Miss Her When She's Gone

But she's not gone quite yet - another false crawl this morning just above the entrance. Not even too much of a nesting attempt, only a little digging. But it would have been a great location if she had succeeded.

The incoming crawl with FC marker in the dunes

Closer look at these tracks we've seen too often this week

In the past, this turtle has given up after five to seven nesting attempts only to return about two weeks later to try again. So it may be that we won't see her again for a while, but tomorrow will tell.

A whole pen shell

And even the animal inside (not alive though)

Another Attempt by our Special Turtle

Friday, June 6 brings another attempt by our
special turtle.
One attempt to nest and
then back in the ocean.
The storm brought down
our sign for Nest #1!!

Two False Crawls!

Thursday, 6/5/14  Two false crawls! First one was almost at the jetty. Crawled up to the "sand wall", and turned around. Second, was between M M 7 and 8. Definitely Dee Dee. After a lot of probing, found two shallow attempts.