Friday, July 17- PN 02 becomes N 12

 Lessons learned during our morning patrol:

1- When our Permit Holder Leslie says there is a nest under that messy body pit, believe it.

2 - As confident we are about “reading” the evidence regarding the location of a nest within said body pit, some crafty momma is sure to fool us using her flippers to disguise and protect it from all being found by either a predator or, in our case, a protector. 

3- Turtle volunteers are persistent. It may take a few teams and a few days to finally find the nest, but we don’t give up. 

Today, the crawl discovered on Wednesday finally yielded to continued efforts, and the nest chamber was unveiled. Building on the insights and documentation of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday volunteers, the nest was discovered deep and in an area atypical of the location of the “standard” nest location. All were happy we were able to find and protect the clutch, beating any potential predators to the punch. 

The nest was laid high and above the spring high tide line, so it was documented, measured, caged and left in situ- in its original location. Great efforts = great results.

The DNR pole marking the initial projected location of PN 02 and two volunteers flanking the area where the egg chamber was finally located. 

                                        Big area encompassing the location of the potential nest. 

Finally, the eggs are found. The nest was deep and, the chamber oriented more sideways than straight down.

Jingle - our resident nest “ whisperer” - Removes one egg to be used for DNA research. 

Egg tucked away in a specially prepared vial to be used for DNA testing, providing key information about our nesting mommas. 

Installing the triangulation poles and DNR marker to document the location of the nest for continued observation during incubation. A cage is also installed to protect it from island predators. 

Friday team indicating our 12th recorded nest and representing all the volunteers who worked at locating this nest. 

Pics from Carolyn, Kim P, and Jingle. Text by Kim T.

All sea turtle monitoring by Waties Island Sea Turtle Patrol is permitted and authorized by SCDNR under Permit MTP500.