Turtle Patrol Report – Week Ending July 8th

July 3rd
Last night Terry Fansler received a call and a photo from Lynne Sager, Leader of the Kiawah Island Turtle Patrol, advising that Lauren Rust of the Dolphin Survey spotted a crawl near the far end of North Beach. Terry sent it on to this morning’s walkers Lynda Zeger, Ruby Jenkins, Pam Salvestrini and Mary Van Deusen who verified that there certainly was a crawl. Judy Morr responded and found nest 23. She and Terry felt the nest should be relocated. The 106 eggs are now safely buried about 200 yards north of Boardwalk 1.

 

July 4th
Judy Morr, Kathy Hanson, Richard Glascow, Jo and Jim Eisenhauer, their daughter Tricia and grandchildren Conner and Rylie called in a crawl with 5 body pits. They were later seen in our fabulous Seabrook Island 4th of July Parade! Tim Morawski was called to probe, he wisely decided to probe after the thunder and rain cleared. Unfortunately, after probing 5 body pits he found no eggs. The false crawl 50 yards north of Boardwalk 5 has been marked. The Turtle Patrol truck and Judy Morr’s LSV represented the Turtle Patrol in the parade.

July 5th
Walkers on North Beach were joined by Patrol Leader Terry Fansler and Tyler Harrell, Seabrook’s representative from the Department of Natural Resources but they had no luck with new crawls. They did get to watch the dolphins strand feeding.

July 6th
Walkers Ruth Ann Henderer, Pat and Valerie Luzadder with Kathy and Ron Chamberlain called with a crawl into the myrtles between Boardwalks 2 and 3. Mark Doane and Sandi MacCoss responded and probed the 3 body pits. Alas, all they found were the remains of a nest from a prior year. On South Beach, walkers Melanie Jerome, Gayle Evans, Liz Haggerty & Anne Snelgrove didn’t find any crawls on but they did find 4 – $1 bills at the end of the rainbow.

July 7th
North Beach walkers called in early with crawls a few yards north of Boardwalk 1 and another just up the beach. Probers Sandy MacCoss and Terry Fansler were notified. The first crawl did not look promising as the mama made a U turn as she hit wet sand. The second crawl was probed; however, no eggs were found. The area was marked, GPS taken and will be watched at hatching time. The South Beach walkers were dismayed to find an encampment between the Pelican Watch Villas and Camp St. Christopher. Chairs, beach paraphernalia, cooking equipment and a nasty looking fish hook were left behind. A kind man walking his two dogs had begun to clean up the garbage when our walkers arrived and joined in. Before the end of their walk the boat that has been moored off Boardwalk 9 was above the low tide line and on the beach. The Beach Patrol was notified about both situations. The walkers were happy to report a lovely morning with dolphins swimming lazily and lots of shorebirds.

July 8th
Yesterday evening when Beverly Stribling along with Ray Lucy Hoover walked to check the first three nests for the Pre-Hatch Activity Team, they came across a lovely T Rex sand sculpture. Poor thing was above the high tide line and therefore he would have to become extinct. As they started to dismantle the sculpture, a family came to help out; the children had a fabulous time! They were also very curious and asked many great questions about sea turtles and wildlife in general on Seabrook Island. Passing on our little knowledge is one of the best parts of being part of The Turtle Patrol.

-Submitted by Gary Fansler