What Happened?

The 2011 season was off with a bang the second week in April -- two weeks early! But then, nothing. I was able to take up two extra days, June 10 and June 17 (my birthday), in the hopes of finding a crawl or a nest. Let's face it, I'm now desperate, and even a false crawl would be a welcome sight.

After two weeks without a sign of a crawl or nest, there was a nest laid, the third for section 4, on Sunday, June 19. I had to say, "Really?" It seems as if the turtles are avoiding me.

Judge for yourselves:

Friday -- Marie walks -- no nest

Saturday -- Marie walks -- no nest

Sunday -- Marie sleeps -- NEST

Oh well, a bad turtle day on the beach is still a GOOD day on the beach!

First Nest Excavation

My first nest, found June 12 near 53rd Street in Holmes Beach, was scheduled to hatch August 6, so Mr. Masferrer and I sat by the nest the entire week ... Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday... Friday night we stayed past midnight. Still--nothing. So after I walked Saturday, August 7, and there STILL were NO signs of hatching, we decided to see a movie for a change. That's when they HATCHED!

They hatched Saturday night around 11 p.m. Several AMI Turtle Watch volunteers, including my coordinators Pete and Emily, made it to the big show. One head popped up, then two, then they came boiling out of the nest.

Sadly, they all headed south--toward lights on Bradenton Beach. The city has even raised the wattage in their street bulbs, causing more disorientations this year than ever before. Between street lights and beach dwellers who forget (or refuse) to turn out their lights, we've lost more than 400 babies. By the first week of August, 11 out of 18 nests on the island had hatchlings traveling in a direction other than the water. Luckily for my little ones, the volunteers were there to redirect them toward the water.

We waited three days to make sure all the hatchlings that could had made it out of the nest. Then, we excavate. We pull up the protective stakes--They let me keep one from my first nest.

Then it was time to dig.

As I knelt down to excavate my first nest, I was so afraid of not knowing if I was "doing it right," tearing up the shells, or finding babies that didn't make it. Fear turned to amazement when I saw how the nest was perfectly formed. I didn't have to worry about where to dig.

Momma turtle packed the sand so tightly it was like concrete. The soft sand in the middle told me exactly where I would find the shells or any turtles that didn't make it out. As I found the shells and unfertilized eggs, Emily carefully counted them in groups of ten.







I kept digging until I again hit packed sand.



Luckily, all 67 eggs hatched, with 8 that were never fertilized.

One of the best experiences of being a part of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch is every walker I've met really wants others, especially children, to know how everyone can help to save the sea turtles. When they meet people who ask what they're doing, they immediately hand them our cards and temporary tattoos for the little ones (paid for by sea turtle tags) and start sharing what we know. Just admit it, we all know they're cool! :D

Here is Glen, a retired teacher (I'm very envious), doing just that with Pete looking on:

And his latest pupils:

Especially today, people are asking: "How can we make our world better? How are we going to solve all our problems?"

Once again, education is the answer!

Tears of Joy!

I can't believe I held a baby turtle! As I tell people about turtles, I always talk about "hatchlings," but today, they are "baby turtles." Words can't describe the feeling, so I'm just going to post these first...

The last time I can remember being so overwhelmed by the beauty in this world was holding my friend's first-born, Jackson. If you have never stopped to look around you at every miracle happening in our world, please stop and consider: consider the gifts we are given every day; the gifts that are right before our eyes. Trust me, when you take time to think about how and why things happen--or don't happen--you appreciate everything, and everyone, around you so much more. Even better than my reaction was the reaction of the children surrounding the nest as we excavated. Some didn't realize what they were seeing was rare, while others did. I just love these pictures:




















Do you think they're close enough? :D

That night, a crowd gathered as we released them into the water. We walkers were crowd control to make sure no one stepped on a baby (especially me!) or interfered with their trek down the beach and into the gulf. There aren't many pictures because even the camera "red eye" can disorient the hatchlings.

Suzi, our director, always educating.

Waiting for darkness, the best cover.

The crowd gives the babies room to crawl.

Mr. Masferrer captures a turtle, sans flash.

For everyone who came to see, I hope this is a day they never forget.

I know I won't!

Here They Come!

This week it happened. We had our first little hatchlings bursting from the sand. Some have said their tracks look like a mad spider's web. Hopefully, I can bring you pictures of the spewing chaos soon. Although none of the hatched nests are in my section, we have five clutches of eggs that hatched on Anna Maria Island this week.

Since we can't capture this miracle without disorienting the hatchlings, I found this National Geographic video from their recently aired Sea Turtle Odyssey that shows how a sea turtle's journey begins.



As we begin to track this year's nests, we are seeing a trend in shorter incubation periods. The later the nests are laid, the faster they are hatching. We're not yet sure what this means, but hotter nests yield a greater number of female turtles. The sex of a turtle is determined by the temperature in the nest. I tell students "cool dudes and hot chicks" to help them remember cool nests (and areas of the nest) create male turtles, while hotter nests and nesting areas produce female turtles.

Next week, all walkers will begin to check the nests for signs of hatching: indentations in the sand and ghost crab holes near the nests. If we see signs of movement in and around the nest, we will mark it with a blue ribbon to alert fellow walkers to check the nest closely each day.

Caught in the Act!

This week an AMI Turtle Watcher had a thrill. She saw a little momma heading back to the water after her hard work. When Turtle Watch Director Suzi Fox sent the picture to Marc, she was right when she said, "This will make your wife squeal!!!!!"

I'm embarrassed to say -- it did.

When I was about the age of my students, every summer my mom would let me keep a box turtle in a shoebox from last year's school shoes. I usually found a specimen in an empty lot two doors down, opposite "the preacher's house," or what Methodists call the parsonage. I would feed him or her (I never knew) iceberg lettuce for two weeks before letting it go back to its mysterious life. I still remember how excited I was when I was quiet enough for long enough for the scared little turtle to open its shell just long enough for me to see his (or her) little legs and head. I even remember trying to pry its shell open but stopping because I was so afraid of injuring my new friend.

Now living in Florida, I have the privilege to help these amazing creatures. What's even more exciting is I have come to realize that because turtles must reach the age of 35 before they reproduce, the young turtles nesting this year on Anna Maria Island were hatching and crawling onto the sand for the first time just as I was begging my mom for my first shoebox.

Happy Independence Day, Mate!

As we watched "Mate" released into Sarasota Bay, I couldn't help but think "FREEDOM!" Mate is a juvenile green turtle that was hit by a boat in Longboat Key Pass. He spent 3 1/2 months at MOTE Marine in Sarasota, recovering from a skull fracture. This little guy was barely more than a foot long, but he was more than eager to gain his independence into the big wide world. I couldn't help but cry more tears of joy as his flippers began smacking his shell when he saw the water. I said a little prayer that he (or she) would grow to be a HUGE turtle, enjoying many more years of freedom in the vast ocean. Here's my amateur video of the release:



For a great story and pictures, visit The Bradenton Herald.com.

Momma said there'd be (weeks) like this

Nesting in our section of beach seems to be at a standstill. Since my nest on June 19, we have had one false crawl on June 21. Section 3 has increased to 13 nests, and Section 6 is growing also, but in Section 4/5 the turtles are avoiding our busy stretch of beach. The most excitement came last week in the form of a lightning storm as I was beginning my walk and a nest during my visit to Key West on June 30.