In contrast to neighboring beaches that are getting busy, chaotic, and readying for the big 4th of July festivities, our undeveloped barrier island remains quiet, tranquil. As the sun rises to signal a new day, native inhabitants and visiting ancient mariners begin their daily routines undisturbed and driven by predisposition and instinct.
As we approached the far end of the island during our morning patrol, having passed all the areas where our sea turtle mommas have nested this season, it appeared we would have to be content today with just a beautiful walk with no new nesting activity. That’s when we got a call from our super walker and turtle whisperer, Jingle who located a crawl near the jetties.
This was a smaller nester with a 28” crawl and a distinctive plastron drag. The uneven length of the tracks showed she’d been on the beach awhile and perhaps had returned to the ocean just before we got there. She crawled up to and part way up the face of the dune, slid down, and left a beautiful body pit near the base of the dune. The eggs were quickly found, and, because of it’s location near the jetties where the high tides often reach the bottom of the dunes, the decision was made to relocate the nest to a more appropriate location.
We found them!
One hundred and two eggs were carefully loaded up and transported down the beach to their new location.
New home for 101 eggs. (One egg is sacrificed for DNA research on our nesting mothers.)
Sisters Suzanne and Cherie prepare the egg shell for research
Now you may think our story ended here, but our short end volunteers Linda and Arlene had an adventure of their own today. While completing their survey of the Hog Inlet end of the island, they observed someone in the water in the Inlet between Waties and NMB. They had spotted an empty kayak on the beach and assumed the swimmer was heading for the kayak which may have become adrift. The swimmer had something in her hands they assumed may be a kayak paddle, but turned out to be a sand scoop. She got to shore and almost collapsed saying she thought she was going to drown. Turns out she had nothing to do with the kayak. She and a friend were looking for shells at the point, and she hit a drop off. She didn’t think it was too far to the island, but, of course, we all know it’s further than it looks and she struggled against the strong current that is always present in that area. They ended up taking her back to their car parked on the other side of the dunes and drove her over the island’s private access road to the far northern end of the mainland to meet up with her friend. So today, not just sea turtles were rescued! That was one lucky lady that Linda and Arlene were there. With the tide coming back in, it would have been a very difficult and dangerous journey back to the mainland via the inlet.
The Hog Inlet end of the island. Pic taken by Arlene just before their big rescue mission!
Pics by Kim P, Caroline, Jingle, Arlene. Narrative by Kim T. and Linda
All sea turtle monitoring by Waties Island Sea Turtle Patrol is permitted and authorized by SCDNR under Permit MTP 500.
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