Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Bill Nelson called in early to report two crawls between boardwalks 2 and 3. Judy Morr was called to probe. A few minutes later Bill called again to report a third crawl near boardwalk 1 and Tim Morawski was sent to assist. All three crawls led to nests!
Nest 6
• Found: In the myrtles 250 yards south of Boardwalk 2
• Egg Count: 112 found, three broken in the roots with one of the three used for the DNA sample. 109 eggs relocated
• Relocated: 150 yards south of Boardwalk 1
• Walkers: Bill and Linda Nelson, Mary Zamora, and Martha Goldstein
• Prober: Judy Morr
• Observations: Raccoons left tracks over the nest but didn’t bother the nest.
Nest 7
• Found: In the myrtles 200 yards south of Boardwalk 2
• Egg Count: 115 found, one broken in the roots but used for the DNA sample. 114 eggs relocated
• Relocated: 175 yards south of Boardwalk 2
• Walkers: Bill and Linda Nelson, Mary Zamora, and Martha Goldstein
• Prober: Judy Morr
• Assisting: Bob and Vickie Becker
Nest 8
• Found: In the myrtles 200 yards south of Boardwalk 1
• Egg Count: 134 found, one used for DNA sample
• Relocated: 150 yards south of Boardwalk 1 (next to Nest 6)
• Walkers: Bill and Linda Nelson, Mary Zamora, and Martha Goldstein
• Prober: Tim Morawski
Tim Morawski was very tenacious in his probing and digging. It took a while, but he was successful. Everyone assisting was impressed with his perseverance. Nice job Tim!
Thursday, May 31, 2018
We have Nest #9! Walkers Mimi Montague, Karen Preston, Pixie Hider and Lynne Madison found the crawl into the myrtles near Boardwalk 3. Unfortunately, a raccoon found the nest first. 18 eggs were breakfast for the thief. The remaining 110 eggs were moved to a new location the raccoon hopefully won’t find just south of Boardwalk 4. The North Beach Walkers who were new this year came to see the process and helped install the new screen.
We also had a crawl in front of the first house past the club. Tim Morawski responded and with the assistance of Terry Fansler probed the minimal body pit. The only discovery was a crab hole. A false crawl flag was placed in case the mama turtle did a great job disguising a nest.
Monday, June 4, 2018
Walkers Rob and Melanie Jerome, Rob’s sister Ruth, Cathrine Scully, Sue Thomas, Gary Holtz and Mike Vinson started the day right with a promising crawl with a body pit 100 yards south of Boardwalk 5. Bill and Linda Nelson responded. After much probing and removal of a layer of sand, the 103 eggs were found 24 inches down. They moved the nest back to 200 feet south of Boardwalk 5. Two screens were alternated on top of the nest to deter the nasty raccoons.
North Beach had a false crawl just south of their lone nest. The mama drew a nice bow tie with her tracks but couldn’t find anywhere she liked to do any digging. Dean Morr did our weekly check of nest 1 in the protected bird area. All is well.
Unfortunately, on a sandbar almost to the Spit was a small headless turtle. Terry Fansler, Bill Greubel and Mike Vinson from the Stranding Team gathered the necessary information for the DNR Stranding Report and buried the remains.
Thursday, June 7, 2018
Chris Czander, Sue Glover, and Sarah Quinn found a crawl at the second house past the club. Eileen and Bill Middleton responded and found nest 11! The 102 eggs were moved to a marked location at the 4th house past the club.
“Bruce” returns Home
Many of you will recall “Bruce,” the Loggerhead stranded on our beach in early May of 2017. He has been a patient in the Turtle Hospital at the Aquarium since then and was released this morning looking much larger and healthier than when we found him. Terry Fansler, Lucy and Ray Hoover and Sandy MacCoss attended the private release. He plowed into the surf like he’d never been away!
Saturday, June 9, 2018
Karen Sewell and Betsy, Chris and Sarah Quinn (and friends) reported a crawl just past the yellow house near Boardwalk 6. Sandy MacCoss and Terry Fansler responded to probe the area. Terry found our 12th nest! Since the eggs were laid below the high tide line, 70 eggs were relocated. The 71st egg was used for DNA research. The new nest is now located just south of the 4th house past the Club. The finer mesh screen was also installed to keep the raccoons at bay.
Unfortunately, Terry and Sandy’s work was not done. About the time they got back from the nest, they received a report of a stranded turtle between Boardwalks 2 and 3. So they headed out again. Bill and Pat Greubel also responded. They found a dead Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle that had obviously gotten tangled in some kind of netting (see photo). Bill completed the Stranding Report for the DNR and they buried the carcass in the dunes.
-Submitted by Gary Fansler