We have reached that very busy point in the season where the Turtle Mommas are still coming in and the Turtle Hatchlings are going out. Three days after a nest has hatched, or boiled, we will excavate the contents of the nest to count the number of hatched and unhatched eggs in the clutch. These inventories provide important data about nest success rates and the results are reported to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. The inventories also provide an opportunity for the public to learn about these amazing creatures and maybe even see a hatchling or two. Dates, times and locations of inventories will be posted on Tidelines.
Read more: Turtle Patrol Report for July 7 through July 13While we had chelonian visitors on Sunday, 7 July, there were no new nests until the turtle workweek started on Monday amid great excitement for the patrollers. Joleen Ardiaolo, Jackie Brooks, Tobie McMahon and Stephanie Mcray found a long and meandering crawl near Camp Saint Christopher with numerous areas of disturbed sand that looked promising for a nest. While Joleen waited for backup and the rest of the crew continued to check the beach, she noticed hatchlings coming from an area with no known nest! She recruited the assistance of a visiting fisherman who was also a biologist to herd the young turtles to the ocean and to find the point of origin of these unexpected hatchlings. Numerous baby tracks were seen and Nest # 50, a Wild Nest was found. No false crawls from an appropriate time period have been identified so we believe the original crawl may have been covered by the tide or was laid prior to our beach surveys. Meanwhile, no less than 4 experienced patrollers looked for the nest left by the turtle that left the crawl and eventually Nest 51 was found.
On Tuesday, 9 July walkers Ed Heskamp and Anne Surrett found nests 52 and 53. Unfortunately, the dreaded coyotes found the nests first. 62 of the 106 eggs laid in nest 52 were still viable and were moved to a spot 25 yards away but no eggs were salvaged from Nest 53.
The news on Wednesday, 10 July was much cheerier. After witnessing a beautiful sunrise, walkers saw that Nest 1 on North Beach had boiled during the night. There were too many tracks to count but they all headed in the right direction. Then Nest 54 was found by Lisa McDonald, Judy Morr and Annie Snelgrove between boardwalks 2 and 3. The location of the nest required relocation of 101 eggs. Normally, once a turtle has laid her nest, she will head directly out to the ocean without any detours or delay but this mama leisurely strolled back to the ocean and seemed to be confused by the remains of a sand castle near the tide line.
There were no new nests on Thursday, 11 July but it was still a busy morning. There were false crawls into the rocks near the club, Nest 6 fully boiled and there were reports of hatchlings on the beach the night before. Nest 1, which is right next to Nest 6 didn’t seem to have any further adventurers. Nest 2 had a few scouts heading out. There was even another hatchling leaving the wild nest 50. Perhaps the strangest report was a large float beyond the Camp vehicle entrance. What a morning!
On Friday, 12 July the sun rose on a beautiful but quieter day than Thursday. Not much happened other than two false crawls near the club. One crawl was obviously just testing the sand. The other looked much more hopeful but we had some of our best people checking it out; however, Bill Greubel and JoAnne Lewis confirmed it was false.
No major hatchling adventures and no new nests on Saturday, 13 July. Friday night Marnie Ellis went to the beach to help a hatchling near Boardwalk 3 get to the water but no tracks were seen this morning. Come on out little fellas, we are here to cheer you on so don’t keep us in suspense too much longer.
We did have a crawl between Boardwalks 2 and 3, which seems to be this year’s favored real estate for new mothers. Neither the Seabrook Island Turtle Patrol or our nemesis, Wile E Coyote found anything. We will keep an eye on this area to see if any hatchlings emerge in a couple of months. Unfortunately, our walkers out by Camp Saint Christopher found lots of trash and deep tire tracks at the end of the point in front of nest 26. Beach Patrol was alerted and indicated that they would check it out.
-Submitted by Anne Snelgrove for Seabrook Island Turtle Patrol
(Image credit: Seabrook Island Turtle Patrol)