So nice to walk on our beach this morning - cool temps, light breezes, cloudless sky. Lively wave action with hurricane Ernesto churning away in the Atlantic - thankfully, well to the east of our shoreline.
No- this is not photoshopped or enhanced- the “mornin’ sun” looked just like this - “shinin’ like a red rubber ball.” (If you know, you know)
After checking the status of our remaining nests, our Friday crew was joined by additional volunteers to complete the inventory of Nest 6. Nest 6 was laid on Saturday, June 15. The crawl went far up the beach, well beyond the high tide line, with a nicely formed typical body pit close to the base of the dune.
The eggs were located about 16” deep. Momma did such a great job in choosing her nesting spot there was no need to relocate it. One egg was taken for DNA research, and the nest was was re-covered and left in situ (in its original natural place) to incubate. This nest, unlike many of the others this year, showed no evidence of predator issues or sand buildup, and rode out TS Debby high and dry. It emerged at 59 days on August 13, with lots of visible tracks heading into the ocean.
Consistent with this nest’s uncomplicated incubation, the inventory was straightforward, efficient, and quickly completed. The eggs were easily located, sorted, and results tallied. A relatively small nest, we found 66 hatched, eggs, 18 unhatched eggs, 0 live or dead hatchlings - resulting in a 77.6% hatch and emergence success rate.
Photos by Leslie, Melissa and Kim. Text by Kim T
Waties Island performs research and management activities regarding sea turtle conservation in accordance with SC DNR, permit number MTP500.
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