Nest #12/FC 19- June 30, 2024

 It was a hot mornieng out on the island and the Sunday team had a lot in store for them! Erin and Elissa walked the short end and Billie Jo Karen and Tammy walked the long end. The Sunday team walked for about 30 minutes before Erin recieved a call that there was a crawl. She instrtucted the long end group to keep walking and she would meet them once she was done looking at the crawl. Everyone kept walking, and about 20 minutes went by before Erin recieved the call about another crawl. Except this nest was at the very end of the long end, which is not a great area for nests due to the high tide line and little amount of beach at the end of the island. Erin worked the first crawl quickly when she realized that it was a false crawl and the mama turtle came in, turned around and left. There was no body pit at all. 

Leslie came and joined the Sunday team with her truck to assist with the nest at the jetty. The volunteers were very happy to see her when they realized the nest needed to be relocated and it was 90º outside. 

It was easy to find the nest and everyone was very excited to count 108 eggs! 

Once all the eggs were removed from the original nest, the team found a new, more suitable location and got to work digging and creating the new nest.

 It turned out to be a very eventul and educational morning and the Sunday team was very happy to finally have a nest on their day! 

Narrative by: Erin

Photos by: Erin, Leslie & Billie Jo

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

Wednesday, June 26th - Another busy morning on Waties Island, Nest #11

 The Wednesday Volunteers and visitors were busy today.  Hot an buggy on the beach.  We had our veteran volunteers and some visitors.

 

 

 

 

We had Nest #11 which was soon discovered when walking this morning.  A classic crawl and body pit.  It took about a minute to find the egg chamber, very shallow - 4 to 6 inches deep.  When probing for the egg chamber an egg was ruptured and we used that for our DNA sample.  This nest was caged and we made sure to  add some sand to cover the eggs.  She came in and crawled over her incoming tracks.  This lady is dragging something on her plastron (belly).

The nest was very shallow . . . lots of help from our visitors

At the jetty area of the island a crawl was discovered and this lady crawled up the dune, slid down the back side, crawled and trampled down the vegetation, and thankfully crawled back over the dune and left.  She also is dragging something on her plastron.  Possible same turtle who nested later last night - Nest 11?  Both turtles were in the 33 - 34 inch size.

 

 Thankfully she found her way back to the ocean.

Exciting morning on Waties  - We now have 11 nests, and a total of 23 False crawls.

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

Pictures by Leslie P and Kim P
Narrative by Leslie P

Exciting Day - Nest 10 Plus More

Today might go down in the record book for the Waties Island Patrol: Six crawls this morning! The Tuesday volunteers were all very excited because a number of the crawls looked like nests. Could we beat the "three nests in a day" record?? 

After discovering the first crawl, the decision was made to continue to patrol the beach and then return to document this crawl. It was a good thing we did, because five additional crawls also needed to be documented.

Near the top of the island we found this set of tracks: she almost got caught in a trench by the dune face. Alas, a false crawl.

Next up heading back down the beach were two more false crawls mid-island. Steve was working hard this morning!

Finally to the ones that looked like the real thing: Again Steve (18 years of experience) did not find the egg chamber - another two false crawls, although we did call one of them a possible nest. Time will tell.

But BINGO! The last crawl we examined (the first one found) was the real deal - Nest #10. The team was excited to see crawls and even more excited and relieved to see that we had a nest this time. This one was about 18 inches deep and in a spot where it didn't need to be moved. Just have to wait now while those eggs incubate.

A long and fruitful crawl

 

 

 

Our good luck visitor helping

Tuesday Turtle Team is happy!

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

Monday, 6/24, Three False Crawls and one Possible Nest

 Very windy conditions today, but we got through it.

Sherri, Bonnie and Donna ready to take on walking the long end in the wind.

Wasn’t long before We came on very faint tracks. Small turtle track width was only 32 “ wide.

From what we could figure she came right up, turned around and went right back down. This became FC#11.

After walking the short end Donna and Claudia caught up with us.  We weren’t far when we came upon another crawl again very windblown and hard to find exactly where she went.  Difference, her crawl is 38”

wide and there is a distinct drag mark in the crawl.   Notice in picture below.

This turtle went right up and when she hit soft sand we could not find where she went.  She did stay a little longer than FC#11 but they are two different ladies.  Looks like right up and back down.

Walking another short distance and there it was  a third crawl.  She is the same size and has same crawl markings as previous crawl.  We probed the area, no luck and this became FC#13.

By this time we haven’t gotten very far so we continue our walk  We assumed that that would be it for the day, but since you can’t predict turtles, we found another crawl.

This crawl was fresher, longer and wider than all of the others. It was determined that this is the same turtle as FC 11 in FC12. plus she has a 38” crawl and the distinct mark in her crawl.

Again no sign of body pit.  Since it seemed that she was up on the beach the longest we probed a few areas with no luck, and made this PN#04

.

Pictures by Jewel and Claudia text by Sharon.

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

 

Two Nest Tuesday!

 A busy morning on the island today: not one but two nests! 

First up, just above Marker 4 was a lovely set of tracks and no hunting around for the nest either. Pretty easy to find the eggs. It was in a great place on the beach so we left it in place. Took our DNA sample, took measurements and caged it. Easy peasy :)

 

 

 

 

 

Bev continued the patrol while we were finishing up Nest 8. She called with the news of another crawl just a little below Marker 9 - up in the part of the island that often has no beach during high tides. It too was a nest but it needed to be relocated further down the beach in a safer spot. Steve was able to find the nest chamber pretty quickly; it took us longer to find the eggs - they were deep!

Turned out to be a sizeable nest with 140 eggs. Took us a while to get them all out. The new location for this nest is right at Marker 6. For some of our team, this was a first - relocations can be a lot of work. But a happy day for everyone!

All safe and sound now!

 

Thanks to Valerie for sharing her photos (and bringing us good luck)!

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