Today was the first official day of summer and we were greeted on the beach by a beautiful sunrise. Erin had a good feeling that the Sunday team would have some sort of activity today. It was a comfortable morning weather wise and there was plenty of beach to walk on during low tide.
Today showed how important it is to walk the whole stretch of beach from the water to the dunes since the activity was so far from the water. Pam, Barb & Erin were walking when they came across some tracks far from the water. It was obvious that the turtle did not lay a nest here, since there was no body pit and the tracks were the same length. This mama did not spend much time on the beach at all. She is a smaller turtle, measuring her tracks at only 28 inches wide.
Excited about the activity, the team recorded all the information and kept trekking along. They found a lot of trash the further up the beach they went, along with a vertebrae from a marine mammal, likely a dolphin or porpoise.
They were checking out a clump of nests that are all close together and were on their way to the next nest when Erin noticed a mark in the sand out of the corner of her eye. Pam, Barb and Erin noticed it was another set of tracks. Unfortunately, this set looked exactly like the first set. The ladies took all the measurements and think that it was from the exact same turtle. Another set of 28 inch tracks that went straight up the beach and turned around and went straight back to the water. The incoming and outgoing tracks being the same length again.
The Sunday team was excited for the activity, just hope this turtle comes back tomorrow. They priced a lot of deer tracks all over the beach, so they wonder if this mama was spooked in her nesting process. They finished their walk with 4 large bags full of trash mostly made up of goggles and sunglasses. On the drive back to the shed, they came across a group of 4 bucks and 1 doe close to the bridge that goes over the water. It was a beautiful morning and just hope this mama comes back to lay her eggs on Waties Island.
All sea turtle monitoring by Waties Island Sea Turtle Patrol is permitted and authorized by SCDNR under Permit MTP500.
Write-up and photos by Erin D.
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