This has been an exciting week for weather and turtles!
Monday, May 23 – Zone 1’s excitement was mating Dolphins. Zone 2 reported no activity. Zone 3 called with a likely false crawl as the mama hit the myrtles and went back out. Linda Nelson and Terry Fansler confirmed the absence of a nest. Rob Jerome also reported the absence of even a single piece of trash. Zone 4: No activity
Hopefully the Zone 3 mama will return tonight and find a place more to her liking.
Tuesday, May 24 – Zone 4 was the winner today. No other activity on the beach..
Lori Porwoll, Lynda Zeger, Ruby Jenkins and Pam Salvestrini had to walk to the very end of the new cut to find a crawl. They helped Judy Morr, the prober, move the 111 eggs and 7 spacers to the second dog sign area. Nest # 4.
Great going ladies. Those extra steps were worth it today.
Can we get another nest tomorrow? I sure hope so.
Wednesday, May 25 – The odd number zones won today.
Zone 3 started it with a false crawl in the myrtles and then hit pay dirt with a loooong crawl at the vehicle entrance. Judy Morr and Jim and Jo Eisenhauer were the finders and Tim Morawski found the nest of 126 eggs. It was moved back for safety from the tides. Isabel Romero and Richard Glasgow were among those finding nest # 5. 
On Zone 1 Ray and Lucy Hoover found a false crawl at the first trash can but they got lucky past the old pier with a crawl and big body pit. Nest # 6. Terry Fansler and Sandy McCoss found the nest of 169 eggs. They all moved the nest closer to the vehicle entry out of the vegetation. It was Ray’s first nest
Zone 2 had two balloons and zone 4 had nothing. Our first day of 2 nests. Let there be many more.
Thursday – May 26 Today it was the low number zones that had all the fun.
The first call came from Zone 1 where Anne Snelgrove, Melanie Jerome and Gayle Evans had a promising crawl about 100 yards short of the old pier. The Middletons responded. They probed, dug, probed some more, smoothed it out and probed again. Judy Morr came by and together they again probed, dug out the entire body pit and probed again with no luck. We still think that mama was just sneaky where she laid her eggs so the spot is marked with a pink flag.
Meanwhile, Terry Fansler, Gloria Reynolds and Chris Czander called with a nice 
crawl in front of the Beach Club Villas on Zone 2. Tim Morawski responded and Judy Morr brought the equipment. It was Judy’s lucky probe stick that found Nest #7 with 105 eggs. Tim moved the nest back further on the dune.
Nothing to report on Zones 3 & 4.
Friday, May 27 –It was a glorious Friday on the beach. Zone 1: Only activity was 2 deer on the beach at the point
Zone 2: Anne Hess, Pat Backstom and Judy Morr found a crawl shortly after they came on to the beach just in front of the Beach Club Villas. The mama must have been told by her friend from yesterday’s nest that it was a good place to lay a nest. Judy was the first responder who found the nest and it was decided it could be left in situ as Nest #9. The technically challenged walkers were able to take a selfie with the sign but unfortunately, the actual nest cannot be seen.
Zone 3: Beautiful sunrise pictures but no turtle activity
Zone 4: Sandy MacCoss, Tory Kindley and Pat and Bob Derajtys were rewarded 
for their long walk to the inlet with a promising crawl that became Nest #8. Sandy acted as the first responder and found the nest. Since the Turtle Truck was at the Zone 2 nest, Pat Backstrom used her vehicle to take equipment to the vehicle access for Sandy. So Sandy walked, probed, walked for equipment and relocated the nest to near the second dog sign with the help of Pat and Bob. A full morning’s work.
Saturday, May 28 – Zone 1: The Turtle Whisperer (aka Harvey Gibson) found that elusive nest from Thursday. It was about 18 inches from the pink flag but very deep. This became Nest 10 and was left in situ. Zone 2: Sadly no activity on this holiday weekend.
Zone 3: Sherry Vincent and Arline DeGennaro called with a crawl just north of Boardwalk 5. Terry Fansler and Sandy MacCoss responded as did Jennifer Gibson with her class and their parents. Terry and Sandy probed and dug and dug and probed with no luck. Jennifer reports that she expects Harvey to go out and try his extraordinary charms but for now it’s marked with a pink flag.
Zone 4: The 3 nests are sleeping nicely and the dolphins were strand feeding at the inlet but otherwise, all was quiet.
Sunday, May 29 – This year’s turtle mamas must have skipped the chapter that said they were supposed to like to lay nests in a storm. Our walkers braved the elements with no rewards. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Submitted by Gary Fansler, Beautsie Zahrn and Judy Morr