Tuesday, December 9th - Deceased Kemp's Ridgley Stranding on Waties Island

On Tuesday, December 9th I received a picture from Mallory M of the Inlet Point Plantation Stables of a deceased sea turtle on Waties Island.

This is a part of our stranding permit, that a sad part of this responsibility.  Myself and Kim T headed out to the island and found the deceased turtle.  It was a mature Kemp's Ridgley Sea Turtle that had no signs of an injury such as a boat strike or predation.  

We compared the shape of the shell, counted scutes both on the plastron and carapace, and checked for the shape of the sea turtle jaw and beak.  My best guess is this poor animal suffered being cold stunned due to our unseasonal cold temperatures.

The frigid cold that settled in the state this past week can 'cold stun' marine animals like sea turtles, which occurs when their core temperatures drop below 55.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We followed the SCDNR deceased sea turtle protocol and recorded the required data points and than buried the poor thing.  There were some evidence that birds had started feeding on the remains.

Many thanks to Mallory M for contacting me.

We were blessed that it was fairly warm and no wind on the beach.  The clouds were awesome as we left the beach.

 

All sea turtle monitoring by Waties Island Sea Turtle Patrol is permitted and authorized by the SCDNR Marine Turtle Conservation Program under Marin Turtle Permit MT500

Pictures Mallory M, Leslie P, text Leslie P

 

 

 

Saturday, October 12th - WISTMP EOY Meeting and Gathering

 Hi All - hoping this finds everyone safe and hardy.  Yesterday, we had about 20 LOAs and Volunteers for our End of Year meeting which was held on the beach yesterday afternoon.    We were joined by our honorary volunteer, Jackie Boyce.

I believe I got around to speak to everyone, I did try, so much so, I missed out on the many food items everyone brought out to share.  I did get some  cupcakes at the end and enjoyed dessert last night and breakfast this morning.

A couple of things came up and I will address - I was asked about  Dr Shamblin's DNA work.  I have included a hyperlink that Michelle Pate passed along to me.  The cost for processing a DNA sample is $30.00.                 https://shamblinlab.wixsite.com/genetics/support-our-research

Thanks to all who  attended - and hoping I will see you around town and next season.

•  Stats on Nesting Season
• 20 Nests
• 50% nests relocated
• 29 False Crawls
• 6 Possible Nests – 2 became Nests
• 2 False Crawls became nests
• First False Crawl was May 15th – Wednesday
• Last False Crawl was 7/30 – FC27 - Tuesday
• First Nest was May 17th – Friday
• Last Nest #16 – July 14th - Tuesday
• One Stranding – June 29th

 Leslie

Text by Leslie, Pics by Leslie and Cherie

 

 

Sunday, September 29th - Beach Clean Up with CCU Sea Turtle Club

First, I want to give many thanks to Kathy G, Jo Ann J and her husband Rich for helping with the transportation of the students and help me manage this beach clean up.  I could not of done this without their help.

 It was a bright sunny day on Waties Island early afternoon when we took seventeen students out to the island to do beach clean-up. We split up into three groups, one group did the Hog Inlet area, another did the middle of the island, and the last did further up the island.  We did not cover around the jetty area, since their was someone on the beach enjoying the day at that end of the island.

We picked up lots of small trash items - the norm, bottle caps,  small pieces of foam, plastic bottles, balloon ribbon, rope, several shoes, clothes plastic and glass bottles.  The "unique" items we collected were a mannequin plastic hand, toilet seat, this large foam item, and an ocean buoy.

Posing with the hand

One of the shoes we found

Investigated a Ghost Crab

Another shoe

One of the many bottles

Toilet Seat

Group pictures was taken. 

Students 

Kathy, Jo Ann and Rich plus students

We piled the trash on the beach and transported students back to the shed.  Kathy and I returned to the beach and loaded the trash in the back of my truck.  The ocean buoy was reported to Dr Gayes, and is sitting outside the shed. 

The ocean buoy is sitting out side of the shed.  A good time was had by all.

Our haul for the day

Not sure what this large black foam item is?

Pictures and text by Leslie P

Sunday, September 15th- Last Walk of the Season/Nest 19 Inventory

 It was a wet and cold morning when the Sunday team started their last patrol for the 2024 season. They had time to stroll, so they took a look at the short end first. It was beautiful to see all the seagulls and pelicans flying just above the sand. 

The Sunday team met Leslie, Kim T. and Sharon at nest 19 for the inventory. This nest was found on August 20th, after being dug up my a coyote. One unhatched egg and 20 empty egg shells were found and removed from the beach on this day. After looking at the false crawls we have had this season, we decided that this nest was most likely from False Crawl 23, laid on July 16th. On September 12th & 13th, hatchling tracks were seen coming from the nest. 

 

Dani, Kim and Sharon dug into the nest to quickly find hatched egg shells. Unfortunately, the found hard sand just as quickly. They dug in different areas around the nest connecting all the holes, since we never found the actual nest and could have the location wrong. 

After coming to the conclusion that we had found all the eggs, we counted 18 hatched, 2 unhatched eggs (1 of which was piped), and 1 live hatchling. Including the previous eggs found, the clutch total was 42 eggs with a hatch success of 42.8% and emergence success of 40.4%. 

We took the live hatchling toward the water and released it. It was very strong and had no issues crawling to the water and swimming out into the ocean. We may have all been soaked from the rain, but everyone was happy to see the hatchling start its journey. 

                                    

                                    

It was a wonderful way to end the 2024 season and we cannot wait to see what the 2025 season brings!

Narrative by Erin; Photos by Leslie & Erin.

Waties Island performs research and management activities regarding sea turtle conservation in accordance with SCDNR permit number MTP500.

Thursday, September 12, 2024 - Inventory of Nest 15R

Today’s objective for the Waties Island Sea Turtle Patrol was completing the inventory of nest 15R- a nest borne in the midst of a great summer thunderstorm on July 12. 

The picture perfect view on our way out to the island this morning……

Was in direct contrast to that on the morning of July 12……

Because of overnight stormy conditions that continued into the morning, our July 12, early morning patrol with our Friday volunteers was called off due to safety concerns. Our fearless leader, Leslie, graciously agreed to meet me at the beach with her trusty 4-wheel drive for a “drive by” to check things out. We headed to the beach through big road puddles, amid dark skies, light rain, periodic thunder, and very strong winds. 

As we approached mid island, we observed a very faint crawl that ended up becoming Nest 15R.  Appears our intrepid mama was undeterred by the conditions on the beach that night, determined to complete the task of laying a nest which produced 96 eggs. Due to the nest being laid close to the high tide line, we agreed to move it closer to the dune to protect it from upcoming king and possible future storm tides. With intermittent intervals of refuge in the truck, a new nest was dug, the eggs relocated, and the new nest marked and documented - all in record time! 

The nest emerged on September 9, at day 59, and scheduled for inventory today. During it’s incubation, the nest was subjected to large amounts of sand accumulating on the egg chamber due to periods of high winds. Excess sand was removed by volunteers a few times, and the hatchlings did the rest-  finding their way out and heading toward the sea. Mother Nature finds a way! 

With the help of two truck loads of CCU Sea Turtle Club participants, the nest evacuation was completed, eggs sorted and results tabulated. The results were good- 78 eggs hatched, 14 unhatched, 1 egg used for DNA, 1 dead hatchling. A hatch success rate of 81.2% and an emergence success rate of 80.2%.

As our season is winding down, it was good day on the island-  beautiful seas and sky, with a touch of fall in the air; enthusiastic students and future stewards of continued sea turtles programs; and a good nest result. We empathize with those on the Gulf coast currently experiencing hurricane issues - knowing full well we could be next. But for today, we are grateful for the blessings of the gentle breezes and calm seas of our incredible island beach. 

  Pics by Leslie and Kim. Narrative by Kim T.

Waties Island performs research and management activities regarding sea turtle conservation in accordance with SCDNR Permit Number MTP500.