It was a cooler morning, which the Sunday team was very grateful for. The sunrise over the causeway bridge was beautiful. Since the end of the season is coming soon the walk is much shorter.
All nests looked great despite the heavy thunderstorms we have had the last few days. The Sunday team was getting right to the last nest and getting ready to turn around when we noticed some lines in the sand.
After getting closer we noticed that nest #9R emerged over night. It was a classic emergence with hatchling tracks going everywhere, This nest has 101 eggs so seeing that many hatchling tracks made everyone very happy.
Unfortunately not far from the nest we found 3 dead hatchlings, one of which was being carried away by a pesty ghost crab.
DNA was collected from the hatchlings and their bodies were taken care of according to SCDNR’s procedures. Along the way the team came across a dead juvenile shark and many jellyfish.
Text and photos by Erin D.
All sea turtle monitoring by Waties Island Sea Turtle Patrol is permitted and authorized by SCDNR under Permit MTP500.
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