Sunday September 9- Inventory of nest 16R

 It was a much cooler morning when the Sunday team patrolled the beach and witnessed a beautiful sunrise. They only had a couple nests to look at before the Coastal Sea Turtle Club and our volunteer team met them at the nest for the inventory. 

This nest was originally laid on Sunday, July 14th. It was laid along the high tide line, so the Sunday team relocated 100 eggs closer to the dunes. 

                         

Most of the students had not been to an inventory yet, so Leslie explained the process to them and assigned roles. 

Kim and barb showed many students how to sort eggs and Leslie showed students how to dig. Erin and other volunteers helped transport eggs to those sorting.           

                                

       

The results were not great but they weren't bad either. There were 58 hatched eggs, 35 unhatched eggs, 2 dead hatchlings and 3 live hatchlings. 

After all the eggs were removed, the students took the hatchlings closer to the water and released them into the ocean. This was a new experience for many of them, so there were smiles all around. 

   

    

         

                  

Narrative by Erin, photos by Erin and Leslie

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