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!

The Saddest Nest

I am ecstatic! Two nests in two weeks is just too much! I was even more excited when my section coordinator Emily said they had nests Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of last week, then nothing until my walk this morning. But this nest would change from euphoria to fear very quickly. The strange thing was there wasn't an out track. At first I thought, "Oh, no! She didn't make it out!" As I followed the path, I was hopeful, remembering an earlier story of a false crawl on the north end of the island. We had a turtle earlier this year wander up and down the beach for no apparent reason before returning to the water. However, thankfully, my turtle eventually made it back. Also, thankfully, she was successful...

So why "the saddest nest"? This mom made the usual turn back to the water, but because of our ignorance, she had to drag her 200-300 lb. body at least 100 yd. more than she had to. If an island resident had taken the time to remove his tarp, and if an island business owner would turn out his light -- or at least use a turtle-friendly (red) bulb -- this federally protected species wouldn't have had to work so hard to do what comes naturally. Click the picture below for an idea of how hard this beautiful creature had to work just to make it back to the sea.

A cool sight was in the exit track of the nest. Sometimes, as the turtle leaves the nest, her cloaca (the egg-laying parts) hasn't contracted back into her body cavity, and you can see an imprint on the sand.

SO COOL!

Of course, happiness prevails when you see those little eggs. Also, the unusual track lured several island visitors, including a very nice family from Oklahoma who stayed to the very last measurement and staking of the nest. If nothing else, the ignorance of others gave Emily, Pete, and I a chance to educate a few more reptile-loving people.