Nests 7, 8 and 9 – May 22 It was a busy morning on the beach and we have been rewarded with three new nests. Valerie and Mark Doane, Rachel and Marshall Carter, LuAnn Sweeney and Sue Ferland found Nest 7 near Boardwalk 5. The nest, with 127 eggs, was relocated well above the high tide line to keep it safe.
Suzanne and Kevin Boyle, and Debbie and Tom Daskaloff found the next nest, number 8, near Beach Club Villas. The small nest, which only had 67 eggs, was relocated closer to Boardwalk 9. The morning walkers didn’t find any new crawls on the North Beach end of the island but Kim Warchol was out for a Sunday morning stroll and found broken turtle eggs close to what was thought to be a false crawl from May 16. That crawl had been found by Walkers Julie Minch, Melissa Andrews, Sarah Dewey and Kim Neath and has now turned into Nest 9. Due to predation, the 56 eggs were relocated. It wasn’t clear what type of animal had attacked the nest.
Nest 10 – May 23 Walkers Joleen Ardaiolo, Tobie McMahon and Stephanie McCray reported early with a crawl just off of Boardwalk 9. Nest 10 has been left in-situ.
Nests 11 and 12 – May 25 The day’s activity started before 6:30 am Wednesday morning with a few calls from the beach. Marnie Ellis and her neighbor, Michelle Raio found Nest 11 on North Beach near peg 2. The nest, with 54 eggs, was relocated further back from the high tide line. Walkers Kathy Hanson, Judy Morr, Kathy Thompson and Anne Snelgrove found Nest 12 near Boardwalk 5. 118 eggs were relocated to higher ground between Boardwalks 5 and 6.
Nest 13 – May 26 We had two Loggerhead turtles that chose to investigate our beach but walkers Nancy Chomel, Scott Smith and Katherine Jacobsma found Nest 13 near Boardwalk 9. The adventurous momma had crawled up and over the rocks into the grassy area. Nest 13, with 90 eggs, was relocated next to Nest 9. The other turtle crawl near Boardwalk 2 led our crew on a merry search that was later determined to be a false crawl. We hope that turtle decides to return soon to lay her nest on our beautiful beach.
-Submitted by Anne Snelgrove for SITP
(Image credits: SITP)