2011 Turtle Season

October 26, 2011

The final numbers for nest #33 were 47 hatchlings, 2 dead and 72 unhatched eggs. We’re thankful that we had any turtles after 70 days.

For those of you interested in the DNA study, all of our samples have been analyzed and results can be found on the Turtle.org web page. This is such fascinating information as we found we had only 12 females lay, one of which laid 6 nests.

October 22, 2011

What a surprise to get a call from the police saying a nest was hatching at 11:00 am today. Fortunately vacationers were checking the nest. Although most of the eggs were unhatched we did put 29 turtles in the water. This nest had been in the ground for 70 days.

September 30, 2011

Some turtles emerged from Nest #32 between 2 and 6 pm yesterday afternoon and we excavated the nest. There were four live hatchlings, one dead and 92 unhatched eggs. All the hatchlings had some deformities in their flippers but were able to walk a short distance to the ocean.

September 19,2011

Nothing to report from morning patrol but Kathy Kitchings inventoried Nest #31 and it had 79 shells, 5 bad eggs, and one live hatchiling in the nest.

September 16, 2011

Nothing to report from morning patrol but Kathy & Sue reported that Nest 31 hatched last night, the 53rd day, with about 56 hatchlings. We had 20+ interested spectators who pitched in to help.

September 4, 2011

Nothing to report today. Patrols will continue each morning but daily updates will cease unless we have activity.

September 3, 2011

Nothing to report

September 2, 2011

Nothing to report. Nest #26 is being watched.

September 1, 2011

Nothing to Report

August 31, 2011

Nothing to Report

August 30, 2011

Nothing to Report

August 29, 2011

Nest #26 has been collared, let’s hope for the best. The other nests are drying out and the beach looks like Irene never happened except for some erosion in front of the Villas.

August 28, 2011

Here is the status of the remaining nests:

#26 Overwashed but dry now. Green has been delivered and Team 1 will collar today.

#27 Overwashed and still in a very wet area. Probably not viable. If Team 4 agrees we don’t need to collar this nest.

#29 Overwashed but dry now.

#30 Overwashed and a lot of sand build-up. Removing the excess sand is allowed. Team 5 may want to do that.

#31 Overwashed but high and dry now. Best possibility of a viable nest.

#32 Overwashed but dry now

#33 Overwashed but dry now

Even though the nests look dry there could be ground water in the bottom of the holes. We are not permitted to check this and WRC protocol dictates that these nests should not be excavated until 90 days after egg deposition. (Page 16 in the handbook)

Nests will be checked daily but for the ones unlikely to hatch we will not deliver green unless we see signs of activity. Please call us if you have questions.

This is a big disappointment to us all but that’s Mother Nature and we’re grateful we still have the beach in good shape and are all safe.

August 27, 2011

Unfortunately the nests didn’t fare well during Irene. Nest #25 was surrounded by water and had an indentation. We excavated and found many dead turtles before the sand collapsed and buried the hole. Because of this we excavated nest #23 and found only dead turtles. Nest 32 and 33 had been overwashed but were above water on higher ground.

August 26, 2011

Nest #22 hatched last night at sundown with a beautiful boil of 124 hatchlings. The nest was inventoried and 11 unhatched eggs were found.

Nest #21 was inventoried with 4 live, 2 dead, 7 pipped eggs and 93 shells.

This morning’s tide reached the foot of the dunes in many places and nest #26 was overwashed. We took the green away from #23 and will return it as soon as it’s safe to do so.

The remaining nests will probably be overwashed but we hope they drain quickly and we will still have viable eggs.

We hope to patrol again on Sunday. Good luck with Irene and be safe.

August 25, 2011

Some number of turtles in Nest #24 hatched during the night. This morning there were turtles in the runway and on top of the nest, these made it to the water. There were also crabs in the runway and in the nest. The nest was excavated and there were 5 dead hatchlings 11 unhatched eggs and 126 shells.

Nest #22 had one hatchling brought to the surface by a crab. There was a large crab hole in the center. In trying to remove the crab, hatchlings were felt just below the surface. The nest was covered up but should hatch today.

August 24, 2011

Happy Birthday Lynda! Nest # 21 produced 76 hatchlings around 10:00pm and quite a few more during the night. I fought a crab for one this morning, the crab lost, the hatchling made it safely to the water. Nest #24 has a large depression with crack. It should be collared tonight.

August 23, 2011

Due to the 5 inches of rain we had on Sunday we inventoried nests 19 and 20 on Monday in case hatchlings were sitting in water. Nest #19 had 115 shells, 2 unhatched eggs and 3 live hatchlings. Nest #20 had 135 shells, 6 unhatched, 1 dead and 5 live hatchlings.

August 22, 2011

Nothing to report

August 21, 2011

Nest #19 hatched last night at 53 days with 121 hatchlings. It looked like one straggler came out overnight. Nest #20 hatched at 52 days. It was after 10:00 pm and was not observed.

August 20, 2011

Nest #15 was inventoried with 2 live hatchlings, 7 unhatched eggs and 88 shells. Nest #18 was inventoried with 11 live hatchlings, 2 dead, 6 pipped, 11 unhatched and 95 shells.

August 19, 2011

Nest #16 was inventoried last night with 5 unhatched eggs and 111 shells.

August 18, 2011

Nest #17 was inventoried last night with 24 live hatchlings, 12 pipped and 5 unhatched eggs and 123 shells. Nests 19 and 20 are collared.

August 17, 2011

Nest 15 & 18 hatched last night. Nest 15 had a boil of 81 turtles plus one more during the night. Nest 18 had 64 plus a few more during the night. Green has been delivered to nest 20 and 21. No other activity.

August 16, 2011

Nest #16 hatched last night. There was a large hole and lots of movement at 6:15 pm but they didn’t boil until after 9. However it was worth waiting for. Counts varied between 104 and 126 but we’re sure most of the 116 that were in there came out.

August 15, 2011

The false crawl yesterday turned out to be nest #33. We were contacted by a couple who saw the turtle laying around 12:30 am. When they described her movements and how she was facing we dug at the perimeter of the crawl and found the eggs. We moved 121 eggs back from the tide line to marker 79.2. Nest #17 hatched last night with 80 turtles. Nest #18 has a large indentation. If Team 5 need help collaring the nest today let us know.

August 14, 2011

We had a 28″ false crawl this morning in front of the Villas. She had left a small body pit and we really wanted to find eggs there but no luck. No hatchings last night despite #17 having a large depression.

August 13, 2011

Nest #14 was inventoried last night with 4 live hatchlings, 10 dead or pipped, 11 unhatched eggs and 118 shells. Green has been delivered to 18 and 19.

August 12, 2011

Nest #12 was inventoried with 113 shells, 6 live hatchlings, 4 dead, 10 unhatched and 1 pipped egg. Nest #17 has a definite indentation, green has been delivered and the flat wire taken up. This nest is only at 49 days. Nest #14 which is due for inventory tonight had a large crab hole and a dead hatchling inside the cage.

August 11, 2011

Nest #13 hatched last night. This nest was in the dunes at the Baptists. The turtles were having difficulty getting out because of roots in the nest so we inventoried it immediately and had 135 hatchlings and 3 unhatched eggs. Nest #11 was inventoried with 107 shells, 2 unhatched, 1 pipped and 4 live hatchlings.

August 10, 2011

Nest #14 hatched last night with 100 hatchlings. A few more came out of 11 &12,and #13 has a small depression. No other activity.

August 9, 2011

Nest #12 hatched last night around 10:30 pm.. 82 hatchlings made it to the water and it looks like a couple more came out during the night. Nothing else to report.

August 8, 2011

Nest #11 hatched last night with 83 turtles.  Several more came out overnight.

August 7, 2011

We arrived at Nest #11 to see a large ghost crab pulling a hatchling into a hole at the back of the nest. We dug around the outside following the crab hole and pulled out a healthy turtle who couldn’t wait to get to the water. There was no sign of other hatchlings near the surface so we smoothed it over. This is day 52 for #11. Otherwise nothing new to report.

August 6, 2011

Nothing to report.

August 5, 2011

Nothing new this morning. Nest #10 was inventoried on Wednesday night with 130 shells, 19 unhatched or pipped and 23 live hatchlings. Last night #7 inventory had 90 shells and 8 unhatched eggs. #9 inventory had 95 shells, 22 unhatched, 1 dead and 24 live hatchlings. Nests 11, 13, and 14 are wrapped and green is at #12.

August 4, 2011

Green has been delivered to nest #12. No other activity.

August 3, 2011

Nothing to report

August 2, 2011

Nest #7 hatched last night with 91 hatchlings. Nest #9 hatched with 57 hatchlings. Nest #8 was inventoried with 115 shells, 7 bad eggs and two live hatchlings. More turtles came out of #10

August 1, 2011

We waited till the storm had passed to patrol but nothing new this morning. Nest #10 hatched last night at 50 days with 88 hatchlings.

July 31, 2011

We had a false crawl of 30″ at marker 71 and a nest from a 30″ crawl at marker 79.5. We moved 108 eggs back from the high tide line. Last night nest #8 had approximately 70 more hatchlings seen to the water by four overstretched volunteers and, fortunately, a very well behaved crowd of watchers. Nests 9 and 10 have depressions.

July 30, 2011

Looks like nest #8 might have hatched last night, it has a small depression in the center of the nest and the number 63 in the runway. Nest #10 has a large depression in the center of the nest but no signs of turtles coming out. No other activity.

July 29, 2011

Nothing new this morning. Nest #6 inventory produced 126 shells, 16 unhatched eggs and 18 live hatchlings. There is a very good article about our program in this weeks State Port Pilot.

July 28, 2011

Inventory results: Nest #4 93 eggshells, 1 live turtle, 10 bad eggs. Nest #5 95 eggshells, 3 bad eggs, 4 pipped. Nothing else to report

July 27, 2011

Nothing to report

July 26, 2011

Nest #6 hatched last night with 108 hatchlings. The green that is out will need some TLC after that storm last night. Nothing else to report.

July 25, 2011

Nest #5 hatched early evening with around 85 hatchlings. Nest #4 hatched around 1:00 am with 95 hatchlings. Nothing new this morning.

July 24, 2011

We had two false crawls of 35″ at marker 51 and 58.3 then Nest #31 with a 35″ crawl at marker 49 down by the river. We have to believe this was the same turtle who finally found the right spot. Unfortunately for her it was too close to the ocean and river so we relocated 84 eggs to marker 59.1.

July 23, 2011

No new activity. Nest #1 was inventoried last night with 94 egg shells, 53 bad eggs and 1 dead hatchling. Nest #4,5 and 7 green should be extended. I dropped off more green this morning.

July 22, 2011

Morgan Harper from the State Port Pilot rode along this morning to get some pictures. She brought us luck as we had nest #30 from a 30″ crawl at marker 71.5. We moved 120 eggs back from the high tide line. Green has been delivered to Nest #8

July 21, 2011

Looks like nest #1 might have hatched, tracks in the runway. Nest #3 was inventoried with 111 egg shells and 13 unhatched eggs. Nothing else to report.

 July 20, 2011

Nothing to report.

July 19, 2011

No activity today. With Matthew Godfrey’s permission we relocated 102 eggs from Nest #5 to a safer place next to Nest #7 at Marker 63.

July 18, 2011

Nest #3 hatched some time after the volunteers left at 10:15. This was at 56 days. Nest #2 was inventoried with 60 bad eggs, 7 live hatchlings, 85 shells. No new nests today.

July 17, 2011

There were no hatchings last night however around 10:30 four volunteers and several others watched a turtle with a 37″ crawl laying at Marker 64.1. She lay still for a long time before going back into the sea. This morning we found only 3 eggs in that nest which is nest #28. One of the eggs was used for the DNA sample and the other two were added to nest #29. There will be no nest #28 on the beach. Nest #29 was laid at Marker 74.9 with a 32″ crawl and 126 eggs were moved back from the high tide line making a total of 128 eggs in that nest.

July 16, 2011

7 more hatchlings came out of nest #2 around 11:pm Friday and made it to the water. 31 more hatchlings came out of nest #2 early Saturday morning 29 made it to the water 2 were killed by crabs. We also had a 31″ false crawl at marker #63.8.

July 15, 2011

After seeing a depression on Tuesday Nest #2 had two hatchlings out at 10:30 last night. Hoping for better results tonight. No new nest today.

July 14, 2011

Nothing to report.

July 13, 2011

Nothing to report. Green has been delivered to nest #4.

July 12, 2011

Crawl #52 produced nest #27. 135 eggs were relocated above the high tide line at marker #69.1.

July 11, 2011

We had nest #26 with a 35″ crawl at marker 56.5 and it didn’t have to be moved.

July 10, 2011

One false crawl of 39″ at marker 70.5.

July 9, 2011

Nest #25 with a 40″ crawl was found at the River. 115 eggs were relocated to marker 78.2. Nest #1 was wrapped and ready for action!

July 8, 2011

Two very wet volunteers found Nest #23 with a 33″ crawl at marker 67. 110 eggs were moved back from the high tide line. We got off the beach just before the thunder and lightning. We got wet again when we went back out to relocate Nest #24, a 31″ crawl at marker 72.3. We moved 137 eggs. We have no idea why all our turtles seem to just make it out of the water before laying.

July 7, 2011

Green has been deiivered to nest #1 & 2. No turtle crawls this morning.

July 6, 2011

One 30″ false crawl that we posted a nesting site sign after three grown men dug for over a half hour without finding eggs at marker 64.5.

July 5, 2011

A 35″ false crawl at marker #53.

July 4, 2011

One false crawl of 40″ at Mercer St.

July 3, 2011

We had a 30″ false crawl at marker 73. She got into a tent and beach equipment and decided not to lay there. We believe the same turtle with a 30″ crawl laid Nest #22 at marker 66. 135 eggs were moved back from the high tide line.

July 2, 2011

Two crawls this morning,a false crawl of 31″ at marker 67.4 and a 32″ crawl at marker 69.5 that resulted in nest #21 that we had to move 100 eggs from the high tide line. My guess it was the same turtle.

July 1, 2011

Nothing to Report

June 30, 2010

Nothing to report

June 29, 2011

2 crawls this morning – a 32″ false crawl at marker #64.5 and a 34″ at marker 65.8 that produced nest #20.

June 28, 2011

A 42″ crawl gave us nest #19 at marker #58.1, at the Studers. A 29″ false crawl at marker #66.5 did not produce a nest.

June 27, 2011

We had three false crawls and one nest today. 2 false crawls of 37″ at the Baptists. Nest #18 with a crawl of 37″ at Marker 73.5. 112 eggs were relocated from the high tide line. We’d like to think this was the same turtle’s third attempt. A false crawl of 43″ at Marker 66. She had an encounter with a canopy post on her way back to the ocean.

June 26, 2011

Nothing to report.

June 25, 2011

We had two false crawls of 32″ at Marker 62 and 72. Hope she comes back tomorrow.

June 24, 2011

At last Lynda found a nest, #17 with a 40″ crawl at marker 75.3 (Joe O’Brien Walkway) Again she laid just above high tide and 140 eggs were moved back.

June 23, 2011

Nest #16 at marker 66.5 with a 33″ crawl, almost missed because she laid her eggs under a canopy located at the high tide line. Moved 116 eggs. Also a 35″ false crawl at marker #52

June 22, 2011

A 33″ false crawl at marker 73.5

June 21, 2011

She must have decided to lay finally – we had a 32″ crawl with Nest #15 at Mercer St. 96 eggs were moved from the high tide line.

June 20, 2011

Two more false crawls of 32″ at marker 58 and 53.5. This seemed like the same turtle who came in yesterday also.

June 19, 2011

We had one false crawl of 32″ at marker 64.5.

June 18, 2011

We had two false crawls today, one at 34″ who did a quick in and out and one at 37″ who dug a small hole then roamed around a little before returning to the ocean.

June 17, 2011

2 more nests today! Nest #13 with a 39″ crawl at marker 53.5 and nest #14 with a 37″ crawl at marker 63, moved 132 eggs back from the high tide line.

June 16, 2011

2 nests today! A 40″ crawl produced nest #11 at marker 64.5. Another 40″ crawl produced nest #12 at marker 65.7 and 124 eggs were relocated back from the high tide line

June 15, 2011

Nothing to report. Think there’s a Detour sign in the ocean directing them to Bald Head and Oak Island.

June 14, 2011

Nothing to report

June 13, 2011

Nothing to report

June 12, 2011

Nothing to report

June 11, 2011

We had nest #10 today from a 35″ crawl at marker 73.5.  149 eggs were moved back from the high tide line.

June 10, 2011

Nothing to report

June 9, 2011

After 4 days of nothing, they’re back. Nest #9 with a 40″ crawl at marker 77.4, moved 117 eggs from the high tide line. Also had 2 false crawls a 35″ at the Baptist and a 38″ at the lighthouse. Tom saw the one at the Baptist go back into the ocean after it took a long journey through the dunes.

June 8, 2011

Nothing to report

June 7, 2011

Nothing to report.

June 6, 2011

Nothing to report, again.

June 5, 2011

Nothing to report

June 4, 2011

We had two nests this morning. Nest # 7 with a 43″ crawl at marker 63. Nest # 8 with a 40″ crawl at marker 77.5 (Oak Island Beach Villas) with 122 eggs relocated back from the high tide line.

June 3, 2011

We had a 35″ crawl leading to nest #6 at the Baptists Assembly. 144 eggs were relocated to marker 61.2. We also had our “River Turtle” make two false crawls of 38″ on the river bank in Southport. She dug a hole but didn’t lay eggs. We hope she figures out that we have some beautiful beach sand over here on the island.

June 2, 2011

Nothing to report

June 1, 2011

 Nothing to report

May 31, 2011

What we thought was a False crawl at end of Baptist Assembly was actually nest 5 with a 36″ crawl.

May 30, 2011

Nothing to report

May 29, 2011

Nothing to report

May 28, 2011

Nothing to report

May 27, 2011

We had nest #4 this morning – a 34″ crawl at marker 62.5.

May 26, 2011

Nothing to report

May 25, 2011

Nothing to report

May 24, 2011

Nothing to report

May 23, 2011

Nothing to report

May 22, 2011

We had nest #3 this morning with a 33″ crawl at marker 57.3

May 21, 2011

Nothing to report this morning along our beach, but we got a call around 9:00 am about a crawl on the beach at The Landing in Southport. Sure enough there was a 36″ crawl leading into the brush at high tide level. We followed her tracks to a small area of disturbed sand about a foot across. We dug and to our surprise found 148 eggs. Don’t know how she managed to dig in what was basically dirt and roots. We moved the nest to marker 66.2.

May 20, 2011

That nest was a teaser, nothing to report today.

May 19, 2011

Nothing to report

May 18, 2010

Caswell Beach Turtle season has officially started. We had Nest #1 this morning, a 32″ crawl at marker 59.2, near the Lighthouse stairs. We also had a 34″ false crawl at marker 54.1 at the Baptists Assembly.

May 17, 2010

Lightning, thunder,and rain but no turtles

May 16, 2011

Again nothing to report

May 15, 2011

Nothing to report

May 14, 2011

Nothing to report

May 13, 2011

Nothing to report

May 12, 2011

Nothing to Report on our Beach, however Matthew Godfrey, Sea Turtle Project Biologist with the NC Wildlife Comission, reported that nearly 50% of the eggshell samples from last season have been analyzed. You can see overall results for Caswell Beach by clicking here.

Instructions for using the site: click on the links that will give you maps of greatest distance between nests, shortest distance between nests, and max number of nests, for individual females from the whole state or specific beaches or islands.

May 11, 2011

We waited until the thunder and lightning had passed but still no turtles.

May 10, 2011

Nothing to Report

May 9, 2011

Still nothing happening.

May 8, 2011

Nothing to report on our beach, but a loggerhead turtle nested on the beach in Fort Macon, Carteret County Friday/Saturday night, making it the first nest of the 2011 nesting season in North Carolina.

May 7, 2011

Again it was too cold for turtles and volunteers.

May 6, 2011

Nothing to Report

May 5, 2011

Nothing to report except the cold temperature

May 4, 2011

Nothing to Report

May 3, 2011

Another beautiful morning on Caswell Beach even without turtles

May 2, 2011

Beautiful beach, but no turtles

May 1, 2011

Started patrols this morning, nothing to report but did see dead jellyfish – the turtles can’t be far behind.