Cool temperatures and a high tide were waiting for the Sunday team when they arrived on the beach this morning. There was only 4 of them today, so they split up evenly- Erin and Tammy walked the short end and Dani and Pam walked the long end. There wasn’t much beach due to high tide being at 6:29 AM. The sunset was beautiful and the ladies enjoyed the cooler weather.
Tammy and Erin were on their way to meet Dani & Pam as it was nearing the time they would reach the jetties at the north end of the beach. As Erin told Tammy that she didn’t think there was any activity today since she hadn’t heard from Dani or Pam, her phone rang. Dani called and said there was a crawl at marker 9 and she was confident there was a nest. It was hard to tell how long the mama turtle was on the beach since the high tide had washed away part of the tracks.
Erin sent Leslie a quick text telling her they may need her help, and headed toward the crawl. By the time Erin and Tammy got to the crawl, Leslie was coming up behind them. It only took a few times probing to find soft sand and the Sunday team started digging to find the nest.
Once they found the eggs, they were excited. Leslie helped as the team carefully collected the eggs in a bucket and relocated them to a safer location. The relocation of this nest was very important due to the high tide and the short area of beach in the spot the mama originally chose. If it was left alone, the chances of this nest getting over washed and drowned were very high. The tracks were 31 inches wide, leading the team to believe it was laid by the same turtle that came up during the false crawl the day before. After finding a safe spot the team dug a new nest and relocated the eggs.
Erin showed Tammy and Pam how they use 1 egg for DNA research and how they preserve the egg. It was a very successful Sunday and the team did a great job.
They were very excited since the Sunday team had not had any new nest activity this year and the nesting portion of the season is coming to an end soon.
All sea turtle monitoring by Waties Island Sea Turtle Patrol is permitted and authorized by SCDNR MARINE Turtle Conservation Program under Permit MTP 500
Write-up by Erin D; photos my Leslie P & Erin D.
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