Sunday, August 4, 2024 - Nest 5R emergence

 A storm overnight with strong wind and pounding rain threatened to continue into the early morning as we arrived at the beach to begin our daily patrol. Seeing a break in the conditions, we quickly headed up to the far end of the island with a plan to first look for any crawls from the night before then check our existing nests on our way back. The storm gods were in our favor, as we were able to complete both objectives with just some light intermittent rain. No new crawls were discovered.

Our activities on the way back consisted mainly of maintenance items at some of the nests, relocating some ghost crabs caught in our traps, and assessing any potential issues we may have with the tropical storm predicted to come our later in the week.

                                                 Tammy reburies a crab trap near the nest

      Karen adds more sand to the cage bottom to stabilize it against possible coyote intrusion

As we approached the last nest to be checked back at the beach entrance, Nest 5R, we noted a large hole within a few inches of the reed marking the egg cavity. At first glance it appeared to be a crab hole like many of the others that had been plaguing our nests lately

. Because of the heavy rain the night before, we were unable to find any hatchling tracks. However, there were some other indicators that this was, indeed, an emergence. The hole had an appearance more in line with an emergence hole vs a crab hole.  A dead, fully formed, yolk sac absorbed hatchling was found near the hole. A shell, “folded” in a manner typical of a hatched shell was found nearby. There was no evidence that a crab had invaded the nest. The incubation duration of the nest - 53 days, was another factor that led us to believe the nest had, in fact, emerged. 

Nest 5R was unusual in that it was laid on the lower end of the Island on June12. We do not get many nests in that area. It was relocated to higher ground  further up the beach because of the high water table in area where it was laid. One hundred twenty three eggs were uncovered. There were 5 broken eggs in the nest. One was used for DNA research. One hundred eighteen eggs were relocated. 

So happy to see they made their way into the ocean before the arrival of the storm approaching our coastline. Safe travels little ones! 

Pics and text by Kim

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