Thursday, July 30 - Inventory of Nest 02R

 As July- the heart of summer- prepares to yield to August- the final stretch of the season- nesting activity on Waties may be cooling, but the hatching action is just beginning to heat up. On a rare lower temperature and even rarer low humidity late July morning the Thursday team was treated to a setting full moon in one direction, a beautiful sunrise in the other, and calm seas tying it all together.

Following the patrol of the island, completing routine nest inspection and maintenance, the team was joined by additional volunteers and daily leads to conduct the inventory of Nest 02R.  This nest was discovered on May 29; incubated relatively undisturbed by predators; and emerged at day 59. On July 27, a vintage emergence hole with hundreds of treasured tiny tracks were observed heading to the sea and fanning out in a wide chaotic group meant to confuse and overwhelm predators lowering the chances any one hatchling gets eaten by crabs or seabirds. 

As we gathered at the nest, project leader Leslie reviewed procedures for the evacuation and assigned tasks to the willing volunteers…

who dug right in!

 Meanwhile, eggs are sorted and results tallied

In addition to excavating 104 hatched egg shells, 13 unhatched or pipped eggs, 1 deceased hatchling, and two lively and adorable stragglers, volunteer LeighAnn “assisted” a ghost crab out of the nest cavity!

Nest results- Hatch success 86.6%, Emergence success 84.1%

After the work was done, it was time to release our two tiny would be travelers into the surf. The icing on the cake of a great day.

Happy trails little ones!

                                                 Great job by all!

Pics by Cherie, Melissa, Carolyn, Sharon and Leslie. Text by Kim T.

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