Baby Sea Turtles are Hatching at DeBordieu!
The sea turtles and volunteers have been busy. Daily patrols for nesting continue along with nest inventories. Inventory evenings are the best chance to sea baby sea turtles. Volunteers help clear the way for the turtles to safely get to sea. Below are some of the latest reports.
July 24, 2012 - False crawl & inventory tonight!
We will inventory the 5/21 nest 45 yds. north of Walkway #6 tonight at 6 p.m.!
Middle: Suzette and Pat reported the hatch of the 5/29 natural nest 84 yds. south of Walkway #6 and counted 30+ tracks heading straight to the ocean! We will inventory this nest Friday at 6 p.m.
They also reported the hatchof the 5/20 natural nest 98 yds. north of Walkway #4 (Walker house). We will inventory this nest Friday following the 5/29 nest inventory.
Hobcaw: Robin and Brandie had a false crawl 62 yds. north of the #4 mile marker. They did the inventory on the 5/23 natural nest at mile marker #13 which had a success rate of about 82% with one live hatchling left in the nest. This was Brandie's first encounter and she clearly enjoyed the experience (photo)!
DeBordieu 31 Hobcaw 31 SCUTE 136 SC 3764
Middle: Suzette and Pat reported the hatch of the 5/29 natural nest 84 yds. south of Walkway #6 and counted 30+ tracks heading straight to the ocean! We will inventory this nest Friday at 6 p.m.
They also reported the hatchof the 5/20 natural nest 98 yds. north of Walkway #4 (Walker house). We will inventory this nest Friday following the 5/29 nest inventory.
Hobcaw: Robin and Brandie had a false crawl 62 yds. north of the #4 mile marker. They did the inventory on the 5/23 natural nest at mile marker #13 which had a success rate of about 82% with one live hatchling left in the nest. This was Brandie's first encounter and she clearly enjoyed the experience (photo)!
DeBordieu 31 Hobcaw 31 SCUTE 136 SC 3764
July 23, 2012 - Nest & Inventory Tuesday!
The green sea turtle that had false crawls Sunday on DeBordieu and Hobcaw decided to move on down to North Island! She had a false crawl on the southern end of the island and then came back and nested on a high dune a little further south.
North: Frankie, out hunting for a green, found a loggerhead nest instead! The natural nest was 10 yds. south of the #14 mile marker.
Middle: Carolyn reported that 6 more turtles came out of the 5/21 relocated nest 45 yds. north of Walkway #6.
We will inventory the 5/21 relocated nest 45 yds. north of Walkway #6 Tuesday at 6 p.m.
We now have a total of 62 nests which is what our 2011 total was so this is shaping up to be a great season!
DeBordieu 31 (30 in 2011) Hobcaw 31 (27 in 2011) SCUTE 134 (178 in 2011) SC 3753
Middle: Carolyn reported that 6 more turtles came out of the 5/21 relocated nest 45 yds. north of Walkway #6.
We will inventory the 5/21 relocated nest 45 yds. north of Walkway #6 Tuesday at 6 p.m.
We now have a total of 62 nests which is what our 2011 total was so this is shaping up to be a great season!
DeBordieu 31 (30 in 2011) Hobcaw 31 (27 in 2011) SCUTE 134 (178 in 2011) SC 3753
July 22, 2012 - Inventory results
Our first inventory tonight of the 5/14 natural nest in front of Pioneer Place Villas went very well with a good crowd, lots of volunteers, a good hatchling success rate and the release of 4 turtles. Mike delivered the talk and did an excellent job as Carolyn, Kathi and Pat dug out the nest and sorted/counted eggs and shells. Carolyn brought out 4 hatchlings and Lizzie passed them around in a bucket for the crowd to see. Robin, calculating the data card and reported there were 101 eggshells and 10 unhatched eggs for a success rate of 90.1%...a very good start to our inventory season! The 4 turtles made their way into the ocean helped by volunteers. Thanks to Frankie and company for handling crowd control and making sure the turtles got safely on their way to the Gulf Stream. See Photo Gallery 6 for more photos.
July 22, 2012 - 2 Green false crawls & inventory tonight!
We believe that a green sea turtle may have made 2 attempts at nesting last night! Greens make parallel flipper marks as from a 'butterfly-stroke" crawling pattern. There is a well defined tail drag up the center of the crawl. Loggerheads have alternating comma-shaped flipper marks. The center of the track is wavy and smooth. See Photo Gallery 5/6 for more photos.
North: Cindy recognized that she was dealing with a different kind of crawl 107 yds. north of the #12 mile marker at Prince George (photo). Betsy went to take photos and measurements. This crawl measured 46-48 in. wide (loggerheads are about 36 in.). After probing and digging the turnaround area, no eggs were found and it was deemed a false crawl.
Middle: We will inventory the 5/14 natural nest 50 yds. south of Walkway #1 (just south of Beach Club) at 6 p.m. tonight!
North: Cindy recognized that she was dealing with a different kind of crawl 107 yds. north of the #12 mile marker at Prince George (photo). Betsy went to take photos and measurements. This crawl measured 46-48 in. wide (loggerheads are about 36 in.). After probing and digging the turnaround area, no eggs were found and it was deemed a false crawl.
Middle: We will inventory the 5/14 natural nest 50 yds. south of Walkway #1 (just south of Beach Club) at 6 p.m. tonight!
We will inventory the 5/21 nest 73 yds. north of Walkway #6 Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Hobcaw: Derenda revisited the false crawl from yesterday 136 yds. south of the #8 mile marker but after 45 min. had no luck finding a chamber. Bill went down there determined to find a nest and actually did locate the chamber! He left the nest natural.
Derenda said there was a crawl 41 yds. south of mile marker #1 that she knew was different measuring 46 in. wide! Bill and Betsy checked it and it appears to be the same green as the North false crawl. Again, there was no definite body pit, broken vegetation or thrown sand. Let's hope she tries again tonight.
DeBordieu 30 Hobcaw 31 SCUTE 132 SC 3736
Hobcaw: Derenda revisited the false crawl from yesterday 136 yds. south of the #8 mile marker but after 45 min. had no luck finding a chamber. Bill went down there determined to find a nest and actually did locate the chamber! He left the nest natural.
Derenda said there was a crawl 41 yds. south of mile marker #1 that she knew was different measuring 46 in. wide! Bill and Betsy checked it and it appears to be the same green as the North false crawl. Again, there was no definite body pit, broken vegetation or thrown sand. Let's hope she tries again tonight.
DeBordieu 30 Hobcaw 31 SCUTE 132 SC 3736
July 21, 2012 - Nest inventory postponed
The 5/9 inventory 70 yds. south of Walkway #12 has been postponed (73 days). We have not seen a major hatch from this nest and the SC Dept. of Natural Resources has asked all turtle projects to wait 80 days rather than 75 days to inventory May nests that have not had a major hatch. We are sorry for any inconvenience.
Middle: We will inventory the 5/14 nest 50 yds. south of Walkway #1 (just south of the Beach Club) Sunday at 6 p.m.
Carolyn had a relocated nest 18 yds. south of Walkway #5 (photo). She also reported the hatch of the 5/21 relocated nest 73 yds. north of Walkway #6. We will inventory this nest Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Hobcaw: Lindsay and Becca had 2 false crawls this morning that could be the same turtle. One was just south of the #0 mile marker. The other was south of the #8 mile marker.
Coastal Observer article: Our reporter/volunteer Jackie had a front page article this week about the beginning of hatching season for the SCUTE area. Jackie got to help inventory the nest that was featured in the article so she had first hand knowledge of the experience and you could tell from the excellent reporting! Pick up a copy of the newspaper if you are not a already a subscriber.
DeBordieu 30 Hobcaw 30 SCUTE 129 SC 3706
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