2012 Turtle Season

September 25, 2012

Nest #62 was inventoried with 77 shells, 18 unhatched, 2 dead and 5 live hatchlings.  As we only have two nests left, we will not be patrolling in the mornings.  Teams will check their nests and if there is activity we will report on it, otherwise no reports will be issued.

September 24, 2012

Nothing to Report

September 23, 2012

Nest #62 hatched during the night.  There were lots of tracks down to the high tide line.

September 22, 2012

Nothing to report.

September 21, 2012

Nest #60 was inventoried with 109 shells, 9 unhatched and 4 dead hatchlings.

September 20, 2012

Nothing to report

September 19, 2012

When patrol arrived at nest #61 two crabs had pulled two hatchlings from the nest.  One was dead and the other rescued.  Examination of the nest showed that it had boiled during the night and the rain had washed away the tracks.  We inventoried and found 97 shells, 28 unhatched, 1 dead and 7 live hatchlings.

Nest #59 was inventoried with 118 shells, 2 unhatched and 5 live hatchlings.

Nest 63 and 65 were overwashed by the tide.

September 18, 2012

Nest #60 hatched last night with 107 turtles. Nest #58 inventory resulted in 99 shells, 10 unhatched and 6 live turtles

September 17, 2012

Nothing to report

September 16, 2012

Nest #59 hatched some time last night.  There were lots of tracks down to the high tide line.  #57 was inventoried with 102 shells, 9 unhatched and 2 live hatchlings.  An extremely high tide has washed over #63 and dislodged some green at #60 and #61

September 15, 2012

Nest #58 hatched during the night.  There were a lot of tracks down to the high tide line.

September 14, 2012

Nothing to report

September 13, 2012

Nest #57 hatched last night with 95 hatchlings.

September 12, 2012

Nothing to report

September 11, 2012

Nothing to report.

September 10, 2012

Nothing to report this morning. We still have 8 nests that are incubating, the last one #65 is only at 25 days.

September 9, 2012

The heavy rains continue to adversely affect the nests, washing away tracks and compacting the sand.

Nest #54 must have hatched several days ago when there was a slight indentation in the morning.  A dead turtle by a crab hole and a large hole in the nest prompted us to check the nest and we found 66 shells, 39 unhatched and pipped eggs and 1 live hatchling.

Four inventories gave the following results:

  • #50 – 28 shells, 56 unhatched
  • #51 – 132 shells, 3 unhatched, 4 dead and 10 live hatchlings
  • #55 – 60 shells, 3 unhatched and 1 live hatchling
  • #56 – 97 shells, 3 unhatched, 4 dead and 18 live hatchlings.

September 8, 2012

Nest #55 hatched last night. It boiled in the pouring rain and was a new experience and a long night for all present.

September 7, 2012

Nest #53 was inventoried with 114 shells, 22 unhatched, 1 dead and 10 live hatchlings.

September 6, 2012

Nest #51 hatched at 9:30 with 102 hatchlings.  Nest #56 hatched at 11:45 with 72 hatchlings.  Nest #50 hatched during the night quantity unknown but a lot of tracks.  Nest #55 had a good size depression but no tracks.

September 5, 2012

Nest #53 Hatched last night around 8:45

Nest #52 was inventoried last night with 119 egg shells and 9 unhatched.

Nest cage #63 which is located between the three hundred and four hundred walkway was damaged last night. It appeared to be intentional, not accidental.  I straighten the cage as best I could and it doesn’t look like it had any effect on the eggs. I also notified the police officer on duty who said he would pass this information along to the night shift. If you notice anything out of the ordinary when you are on the beach please notify the police.

September 4, 2012

Tracks of one hatchling from nest #53 made it to the HTL. Green was delivered to #57

September 3, 2012

Nest #45 inventory was disappointing with only 6 live hatchlings and 91 unhatched eggs. Nest #53 has a small indentation and crack.

September 2, 2012

Nest #52 hatched last night with a large boil at 50 days. Nest #53 has an indentation.

September 1, 2012

Nothing to report

August 31, 2012

Nothing to report except a very large crab hole in the middle of Nest #59

August 30, 2012

Green has been delivered to nest #51,52 and 53. The green for 51 is staged behind nest 56 because of recent over wash problems.

Nest #51,54 and 57 were over washed.

August 29, 2012

Yesterday saw a lot of activity. As we collared #48 after seeing one turtle inside the cage, we were told by visitors that 20 had come out on Monday afternoon. We checked the nest and found dead hatchlings so we removed the cage and inventoried. The results were 110 shells, 65 dead hatchlings and 28 unhatched or pipped. We did release 4 live turtles into the ocean. The dead turtles were compacted due to the rains and washovers.

Because of this sad result other nests were checked and inventoried immediately after hatching. Fortunately the results were better.

Nest #43 was found to have hatched when the first hole appeared on Saturday. The inventory produced 109 shells, 3 unhatched and 1 live.

Nest #44 had 63 live hatchlings and 8 unhatched or pipped.

Nest #46 had 122 live hatchlings and 12 unhatched or pipped.

Nest #47 had 105 live hatchlings and 8 unhatched.

Nest #49 had 118 live hatchlings and 12 unhatched.

The heavy rains and high tides continue to affect the nests with #51, #57 and #54 being overwashed.

 August 28, 2012

Nest 48,51 and 54 were over washed last night.

Nest #48 had one hatchling on top still inside the cage. I felt down a couple of inches and the hatchlings are close to the top. They could come out at anytime because of the rain and overcast sky. We will wrap the nest this morning as soon as we get a break in the rain. We will also check the nest every couple of hours and keep our team posted.

Nothing else to report.

A set of keys were found at nest #43 and turned into Chuck at the Town Hall. They had a Michigan state strap and my guess the car keys were for a Honda.

August 27, 2012

Nothing to report except a large hole in #49 which is only at 47 days incubation.

August 26, 2012

Nest #40 was inventoried with 108 shells and 2 unhatched eggs. Nest #42 was inventoried with 94 shells, 30 unhatched, 1 dead and 3 live hatchlings. There was an extremely high tide last night and nests #48 and #54 were overwashed.

August 25, 2012

Nest #38 was inventoried with 111 shells, 8 unhatched and 1 live hatchling. Nest #41 was inventoried with 116 shells, 5 unhatched and 1 live hatchling

Nest #43 had a very large hole which looked like it had hatched.  There were no tracks in the runway and no turtles at the top of the nest.  The hole was covered.

August 24, 2012

Actually did the patrol before the rain. Nothing new to report.

August 23, 2012

Nest #42 also hatched last night with 60 plus hatchlings. I didn’t see the tracks in the runway because of the rain last night. Nest #40 hatched last night with 112 hatchlings. Where did the other two come from? Surprising what happens when you have nest close together. Green has been delivered to nest 43 and 44.

August 22, 2012

Nest #38 hatched last night with 114 turtles.  This was right after the inventory for #39 which had 83 shells, 27 unhatched and 6 live hatchlings.

Nest #41 hatched probably early this morning as tourists found one hatchling by the water.  The tracks were washed away by the rain but there was a large hole in the nest to indicate the hatching.

Nest #37 was inventoried with 31 shells and 43 unhatched eggs.

DNA results are becoming available for this year and can be found on www.seaturtle.org.  Our #1 turtle laid two more nests on Holden Beach.  Most interesting is that two turtles each laid five nests here in 2010 and both laid two nests this year.

August 21, 2012

Nest #34 Inventory produced 135 Egg shells, 8UH, 1 dead and 1 live hatchling.  More green and a rake was delivered to Nest 41 and green was delivered to nest 42

August 20, 2012

Nest #32 was inventoried with 61 shells, 60 unhatched and 2 live hatchlings.

Nest #36 was inventoried with 120 shells, 2 unhatched, 4 pipped and 11 live hatchlings.

Visitors observed 23 hatchlings emerge from Nest #37 on Saturday night.  Although volunteers have not seen any evidence of hatching, we are recording 8/18 as the first emergence date.

August 19, 2012

Nest #39 hatched with 63 hatchlings. Nest #35 was inventoried with 101 shells, 3 unhatched, 2 live hatchlings.

August 18, 2012

  • Nest #31 Inventory; 117 ES, 2UH.
  • Nest #32 had 2 more hatchlings last night
  • Nest #33 Inventory; 63ES, 4UH, 1 pipped,2LH
  • Nest #34 had 138 Hatchlings around 8:40pm last night plus 1 more this morning
  • Nest #35  had 5 more hatchlings this morning

August 17, 2012

Nest #32 hatched with 47 hatchlings. Nest #35 hatched with 82 hatchlings. A very few hatchlings came out of #36. There were a lot of crab holes in the nests this morning with one dead hatchling at the top of #32.  All holes were filled.

August 16, 2012

We had nest #65 this morning, very late in the season, with a 31” Crawl and 98 eggs moved just before the high tide got to them.

Nest #28 was inventoried last night with 116 shells and 10 unhatched eggs.

August 15, 2012

Nest #31 hatched last night around 9:00pm yielding 117 hatchlings. Also, we received a phone call about 11 this morning from a tourist who saw hatchlings come out of nest #33 at about 11:00pm. We saw a couple of tracks this morning on patrol but didn’t think it boiled. After just looking closer at the runway it appears that the windblown sand  has covered a lot of the tracks. We are now calling it hatched.

August 14, 2012

Nest #27 was inventoried last night, 96 egg shells and 2 unhatched. Nothing else to report.

August 13, 2012

Nest #28 hatched last night ,115 hatchlings boiled out around 8:00pm. Nothing else to report.

August 12, 2012

Another rainy patrol. Nest #26 was inventoried with 102 shells, 16 unhatched and 12 pipped eggs. Nest #29 inventory produced 88 shells, 19 unhatched, 2 pipped and 2 dead. Nest #30 produced 121 shells, 8 unhatched, 1 pipped and 69 live hatchlings. Nest #32 had a large crab hole which was filled in.

August 11, 2012

Nest #27 hatched last night around 9:30 with 85 hatchlings. Green has been delivered to nest #32 & 33.

August 10, 2012

Nest #21 was inventoried last night with 121 shells and 2 unhatched eggs.  Unfortunately for the hundred or so people at the nest, there were no live hatchlings.

August 9, 2012

Three 29” false crawls at the Baptist at marker #50, 49 and 48. Probably the same turtle.

Nest #29 hatched, sometime after 9:30, details unknown at this time.

Nest #30 hatched, details unknown at this time.

Nest #24 was inventoried with 75 shells, 3 dead, 4 pipped, 38 unhatched and 12 live hatchlings

Nest #25 was inventoried with 38 shells and 51 unhatched eggs which looked like they had a fungus disease.

Green has been delivered to Nest #31 and should be collared before dusk. Green will be delivered to Nest #32 today before noon.

August 8, 2012

Patrol finally got out at 2:00 pm after the rain.  There were no new nests. Nest #26 hatched 55 turtles last night.  Nest #16 inventory produced 129 shells, 3 unhatched and 2 live hatchlings. Nest #23 inventory produced 118 shells, 5 unhatched, 1 pipped and 2 live hatchlings.

August 7, 2012

We need the rain but does it have to happen during turtle patrol?

Nests  #21 and #24 hatched last night.

Nest #22 was inventoried with 104 shells, 6 unhatched, 27 pipped, 6 dead and 26 live hatchlings.  Again we think the heavy rain last week came at just the wrong time for this nest.

August 6, 2012

Rain delayed the patrol but there was no new activity.

Nest #25 hatched last night with 40 plus turtles Nest #24 had one hatchling come out around 11:30.  No signs of more this morning.  Nest #18 was inventoried with 118 shells, 3 unhatched and 14 dead hatchlings.  Nest #26 has an indentation and crack.

August 5, 2012

Nothing new this morning but two hatchings last night. Nest #16 had 128 hatchlings and Nest #23 had 99 hatchlings. Nest #13 was inventoried with 60 shells, 8 unhatched and 2 dead

Now that nests are hatching early we will move the green date back two days (50th day)

August 4, 2012

A 40” crawl gave us nest #63 at marker 61.8.

A crawl that had to have happened somewhere around June 10th gave us wild nest #64 at marker 56.8 The tracks were discovered by Tom Adams. Tom and Pat found the nest with 132 egg shells and 1 un-hatched egg. They followed the tracks and believe all but one they found dead made it into the ocean.

Nest #22 hatched last night around 11:00pm and 149 hatchlings marched to the ocean.

Nest #17 was inventoried with 130 egg shells, 6 live, 6 un-hatched and 9 dead.

Nest #20 was also inventoried last night with 115 egg shells, 10 live and 3 un-hatched.

August 3, 2012

Nest #18 hatched probably early this morning.  Our patrol was lucky enough to watch 40 hatchlings make it to the water.

Nest #20 had several more turtles emerge overnight and the tracks went all the way to the ocean.

Nest #19 was inventoried with 112 shells, 19 unhatched or pipped, 5 dead and 8 live hatchlings.  We’re guessing that the dead hatchlings over the past couple of days were due to the heavy rain.

August 2, 2012

Nest #13 hatched last night with 61 hatchlings.

Nest #15 was inventoried with 97 shells, 4 unhatched, 3 pipped, 4 dead and 4 live hatchlings.

Green has been delivered to nest #24

August 1, 2012

This morning the window of opportunity was not long enough to prevent the patrol from getting soaking wet.  No new activity.

Nest #17 hatched last night with 118 hatchlings.  Nest #10 also hatched with 93 hatchlings – good numbers.

Nest #4 was inventoried and although we never saw a boil there were 88 shells so the turtles must have come out sometime.  Also 14 unhatched eggs.

Green has been delivered to #23.

July 31, 2012

Nest #19 hatched last night around 10:25.  Not sure of the count but over 60 hatchlings.

Nest #4 had one turtle come out and make it to the ocean under the watchful eyes of a very enthusiastic family  This nest has trickled out.

Otherwise, no new activity.

July 30, 2012

Nest #15 hatched last night with 81 hatchlings

#3 was inventoried with 96 shells, 5 unhatched and 8 live hatchlings

#14 was inventoried with 89 shells, 19 unhatched, 1 dead and 2 live hatchlings

#19 and #20 have large holes.

July 29, 2012

We had nest #62 with a 29” crawl at Marker 73.4.  95 eggs were moved back from the high tide line.

We also had two false crawls of 27” and 29”

Nest #4 had a dead hatchling in the cage and several tracks.  Although it didn’t boil, we are calling this the first emergence and hope for more tonight.

July 28, 2012

#25 has a small depression, left green this morning.  Nothing else to report.

July 27, 2012

We had two false crawls of 32” and 35” in the Baptists area.

Finally #3 hatched last night around 7:45.  We don’t have a count yet, we were too busy fighting seagulls.

Nest #14 hatched with 89 turtles.

July 26, 2012

Nothing new to report but four inventories last night.

  • #5 had 114 shells,8 unhatched and 2 hatchlings
  • #6 had 140 shells, 16 unhatched and 1 hatchling (a large clutch)
  • #7 had 120 shells, 32 unhatched and 4 hatchlings (another large one)
  • #11 had 128 shells, 3 dead, 1 pipped and 11 hatchlings

Nest #14 has a large hole.

July 25, 2012

We had nest 61 with a 36” crawl at Marker 59.7.  We moved 125 eggs back from the high tide line.

We also had three false crawls of 33”.  If it was the same turtle she covered a lot of beach and dug in areas that were thick with roots.  Hope she finds a good spot soon.

Nest #12 had a dead hatchling in the runway and several tracks which didn’t make it to the water.  There was a lot of crab activity around this nest and several other nests.

#6 also had several tracks which did make it to the water.

July 24, 2012

Two  false crawls last night a 36” at marker 56.3 and a 32” at marker 64.9.  Nest #7 had one hatchling this morning. Nest #12 had 4 hatchlings this morning and looks like more came out last night.  Nest # 10 inventory had 141 egg shells, 18 un hatched, 2 dead hatchlings, 1 piped, and 23 live.  Green has been delivered to nest 14,15 and 16.  Nest #20 has a dimple.

July 23, 2012

We had nest #60 today with a 36” crawl at marker 57.7.

Last night was busy with four nests hatching:

  • #5 at 7:45 pm with 105 hatchlings
  • #6 during the night but someone was there and wrote 68 in the sand.
  • #7 around 1:15 am when we got a phone call, no count.
  • #11 at 9:30 with 81 hatchlings
  • #8 was inventoried with 131 shells and 9 live hatchlings and about 100 people watching

July 22, 2012

We had a false crawl of 37” by the river and presumably the same turtle laid Nest #59 at marker #51.  120 eggs were moved to Marker 55.2.

We’d like to commend all the volunteers who have been taking care of nests during the past few nights of violent winds.  There was much shoveling and clearing to be done and you all did it with a smile on your faces, even though the faces were covered in sand.  Thanks for your dedication to the turtle program.

July 21, 2012

Nest #9 was inventoried last night and 23 live hatchlings came out. The final count was 135 egg shells 5 bad eggs and 1 dead. #10 hatched last night around mid-night, 105 hatchlings were counted. #11 has a good size depression in it this morning. Green has been delivered to #13.

Nothing else to report.

July 20, 2012

We had nest #58 with a 35” crawl at marker 53 (Baptists Assembly)

Nest #8 hatched last night, no number as it was too dark to count.  Team 6 appreciated the help from other volunteers who came to the nest to assist.  Sarah Finn, our NCWRC Biologist based in Wilmington, came down last night and was lucky enough to see the hatching and observe how our volunteers handled it.

July 19, 2012

A large number of hatchlings came out of nest #9 last night around 11:00 pm. Nothing else to report.

July 18, 2012

We had nest #57 last night with a 38” crawl at marker 63.4. Nest #9 hatched last night, don’t have any details yet but will post when they are available. Nest #8 has a large depression.

July 17, 2012

A 32” crawl gave us nest #56 at marker #60.7.  We also had a 37” false crawl at marker 64.2.

Nest #1 was inventoried last night and we found 35 unhatched eggs and 9 egg shells.  There was never an indication that turtles came out of this nest so the broken shells could have been from ghost crab predation.

July 16, 2012

Nest #2 hatched last night with 72 turtles. We had nest #55 from a 38” crawl at McGlamery Street, and moved 63 eggs to Marker 77.  At the bottom of this nest was a string of undeveloped eggs, something we haven’t seen before. We also had two false crawls of 34” and 35”.

Green was delivered to Nest #11 which has a good sized indentation in it.  This nest is at 52 days.

July 15, 2012

A 27” false crawl at marker 56.1 and a 29” crawl at marker 65.2 gave us nest #54

July 14, 2012

One 33” false crawl at marker 74.3 and a 37” crawl gave us nest #53 at marker 77.2. 136 eggs were relocated above the HTL.

July 13, 2012

We had Nest #51 with a 30” crawl at marker 60.8 and Nest #52 also with a 30” crawl at marker 73.  #52 was laid in the reeds at the tide line and 128 eggs were moved back.  We also had two false crawls of 30”.

July 12, 2012

A 34” crawl gave us nest #50 at marker 54.6. Green is at nest #7 & 9.

July 11, 2012

A 40” crawl resulted in nest #49 at marker 70.1, 130 eggs were relocated above the HTL.

July 10, 2012

Two false crawls this morning ,both 28” (same turtle?), one at marker 57.9 the other at marker 72.

July 9, 2012

We had Nest #48 from a 36” crawl at Marker 64.5 right next to Nest #2.  A false crawl of 38” was from a turtle that tried to lay in several places then took a long walk on the beach before going back to the ocean.

July 8, 2012

We had Nest #47 with a 32” crawl at Marker 75.5 (Joe O’Brien Walkway). Green has been delivered to Nests 5, 6, 8 and 10

July 7, 2012

Nothing new to report.  Green has been delivered to Nest #4.

July 6, 2012

Three crawls this morning:

A 30” crawl at marker 50 gave us nest #45, relocated 97 eggs to marker 55.2.

A 30” false crawl on the river and a 34” crawl at marker 62.2 Gave us nest #46

July 5, 2012

We had nest #43 at Marker 62.5 with a 32” crawl.  Also two false crawls of 32”.  At one of these she had dug a hole but didn’t lay.

Nest #44 was from a 30” crawl at marker 72, we also had a 30” false crawl.  We moved 71 eggs back from the high tide line.  This nest had 16 spacers and misshapen eggs.  We used one of them for DNA testing.  The egg did not have a yolk.

Nest #1 is at 69 days now and #2 is at 54 days

July 4, 2012

Happy 4th but nothing to report. Maybe the fireworks last night kept the turtles away.

July 3, 2012

A 32” crawl gave us nest #42 at marker 74.3. 124 eggs were relocated above the HTL.

There was also a 32” false crawl at marker 74.5. Same turtle?

July 2, 2012

We had a false crawl of 36”, then Nest #40 from probably the same turtle.  She laid up against the escarpment at the Baptists Assembly and we moved 110 eggs to Marker 55.2, close to #38 and #39.

We also had Nest #41 at Marker 68.9 (Public parking lot) with a 34” crawl.  She laid well into the dunes.

Nest #1 has not hatched yet.

July 1, 2012

We had two nests laid up by the river – Nest #38 with a 40” crawl and 120 eggs and Nest #39 with a 30” crawl and 111 eggs.  Both were relocated to Marker 55.2 near the Baptists beach access.  We also had a false crawl of 32” in the same area.  It looked like these turtles were staying away from the fireworks.

June 30, 2012

Nothing to report.

June 29, 2012

Today makes up for two days with nothing. We had nest #36 from a 38” crawl at marker 65.9, right next to nest #33.  She dug a hole then changed her mind, went further up the beach and nested.

Nest #37 was from a 40” crawl at marker 71.  We moved 74 eggs from the high tide line.

June 28, 2012

Nothing to report

June 27, 2012

Nothing to report

June 26, 2012

Rain delayed the patrol but they still got wet.  We had two false crawls: 35” at marker 51.5 and 33” at marker 73.2.

Nest #35 was laid from a 38” crawl at Marker 78.5.  This turtle got tangled up in a tent frame and disturbed a lot of sand trying to free herself.  She laid the eggs on her way back to the ocean below the high tide line and 104 eggs were relocated back up the beach.  She did manage to render the tent frame unusable.

June 25, 2012

A disappointing morning with nothing to report

June 24, 2012

We had nest #34 with a 40” crawl at marker 58.8 (in front of the Lighthouse)

June 23, 2012

Two false crawls of 30” from the same turtle at marker 71 and 64.9

June 22, 2012

We had nest #33 from a 36” crawl at marker 65.9.  70 eggs were moved back from the high tide line.

Lynda saw this turtle finish laying and go back to the ocean thanks to a phone call from visitors around 11:30 pm. Everyone did just what they should, keeping a distance from her, not shining lights on her and staying behind her as she made her way back to the water.  Thank you.

June 21, 2012

Only 4 crawls this morning and one 33” crawl produced nest 32 at marker 68.5. The other 3 were f/c, 32” crawl at marker 75.2, a 31” crawl at marker 76.2 and a 31” crawl at marker 78.

June 20, 2012

5 false crawls today:

36” at marker 64.5
36” at marker 71.8
34” at marker 71.9
36” at marker 73.2
36” at marker 76.2

These could all be from the same turtle because the 34” did not make it to the soft sand and the crawl will measure smaller.

June 19, 2012

Two new nest last night. Nest #30 from a 36” crawl at marker 71.2 and nest #31 from a 40” crawl at marker 76.1

June 18, 2012

We had nest #28 from a 40” crawl at marker 54.2 (Baptists area) and nest #29 from a 34” crawl at marker 65.5.

June 17, 2012

Despite problems with the Gator and the back-up from the Golf Course, we found Nest #27 with a 31” crawl at marker 59.9.

June 16, 2012

A 36” crawl gave us nest 26 at marker 77.1. We relocated 130 eggs above the high tide line. Nest #1 was collared last night.  It will be checked several times daily and we will start monitoring during the evenings starting Wednesday, June 20th

June 15,2012

Morning patrol learned how to differentiate between turtle tracks and helicopter retrieval tracks.  What we thought was a nest that had been driven through proved to be where the trucks were on the beach taking away the helicopter that crashed yesterday. Otherwise nothing to report.

June 14, 2012

Nothing to report.

June 13, 2012

Rain delayed the patrol this morning but we did find Nest #25 with a 38” crawl at marker 69.8 (just west of public parking lot).  95 eggs were relocated back from below the high tide line.  There was a “spacer” egg in the nest, about the size of a marble, and this was used for the DNA sample.

June 12, 2012

A turtle with a 40” crawl gave us nest #24 at marker 79 below the HTL. We relocated  117 eggs straight back.

June 11, 2012

We had Nest #23 from a 40” crawl at Marker 74.  The momma made three pits, fortunately we dug in the right one to locate the eggs.

June 10, 2012

We had two false crawls of 34” at the Baptists. We had nest #22 with a 40” crawl at Marker 66.4

June 9, 2012

Nothing to report except for a good size leisure boat beached at the Baptist.

June 8, 2012

We had Nest #21 with a 37” crawl at Marker 80 (McGlamery St.)

June 7, 2012

Had a 31” false crawl at marker 74.5 and a 37 “ crawl at marker 76 that yielded nest #20 with 119 eggs that we relocated above the HTL.

June 6, 2012

One 34” false crawl at maker 78

June 5, 2012

Today yielded nests #18 & 19 but not without some difficulty. First I dug for almost a hour without success. I called Tom Adams and he went out about 2hrs latter and found the 132 eggs and carried them over a mile from the river. Nest # 18 had a 37” crawl and is located at marker 70.1. Nest #19 had a 32” crawl and 131 eggs were relocated at marker 70.1.

We also had a 30” false crawl at marker 73.2.

June 4,2012

We had four false crawls today – 34”, 31” and 33” at the Baptists Assembly and 31” at Marker 56.9.  Three of these crawled far up on the beach but didn’t lay.

We had Nest #17 from a 38” crawl at Marker 64.

June 3,2012

A good morning with two nests.  #15 from a 34” crawl at Marker 65.7.  104 eggs were moved back from the high tide line.  Also from a 34” crawl Nest #16 at Marker 76.8.  This turtle laid about six feet from a killdeer’s nest who was very upset with us as we worked the nest.

June 2,2012

A 30” false crawl at marker 55.2 and a 30” crawl at marker 69 that resulted with Nest #14, probably the same turtle.

June 1, 2012

Nothing to report

May 31, 2012

We had nest lucky #13 this morning with a 36” crawl at marker 65.6. This is the first year since we have been keeping records (1990) that we have had more than 12 nest by the end of May.

We also had a 30” false crawl at marker 72.5.

 May 30, 2012

We were not able to patrol until 10:00 am and still got wet.  We did not find any tracks but the rain, wind and high tide could have hidden any crawl.

May 29, 2012

Nothing to Report

May 28, 2012

Nothing to Report

May 27, 2012

We had nest #12 today from a 38” crawl at marker 65.1 (600 walkway).  We moved 180 eggs back from below the high tide line.  This is one of the largest nests we’ve had.

May 26, 2012

One 35” false crawl this morning at marker 52.5

May 25, 2012

We had nest #11 from a 33” crawl at marker 77.1 (the Villas again)  128 eggs were moved back from the high tide line.

May 24, 2012

We had a very short 32” false crawl at Mercer Street.

Yesterday we saw what we thought was a dolphin in trouble in the surf.  We couldn’t get it back in the water and eventually Marine Fisheries had to euthanize it.  It turned out to be a Melon Headed Whale, which is very rare to see close to shore.  It was taken to UNCW for research.

May 23, 2012

What we thought was a false crawl resulted in Nest #10.  The wind had obliterated the tracks above the high tide line and the nest pit was not well defined.  The crawl was at Mercer Street with very little beach so we relocated 160 eggs to Marker 78.2.  A very good sized clutch.

May 22, 2012

Nest #9 was laid last night. A 32” crawl at marker 67.6

May 21, 2012

We had two nests this morning – Nest #7 with a 36” crawl at marker 57.1 and Nest #8 also a 36” crawl at marker 78.3 (in front of the Villas).  We moved 140 eggs back from the high tide line.  Crabs had got two eggs but we used one of them for the DNA sample.  Some animal had dug at nest #2 but stopped when it hit the wire.

May 20, 2012

A 42” crawl gave us nest #6 at marker #65.7 and a 32” crawl gave us 3 false crawls.

May 19, 2012

We had nest #5 with a 32” crawl at marker #58.1

May 18, 2012

Two false crawls this morning, 35”crawl at marker 69.5 and a 39” crawl at marker 60.

May 17, 2012

We had nest #4 today with a 38” crawl at marker 62.9. We also had a 28” false crawl at marker 65.9. It appears this turtle had a deformed left flipper so we should recognize her if she comes back.

May 16, 2012

We had Nest #3 today, a 34” crawl at marker 67.8.

May 15, 2012

Nothing to report

May 14, 2012

Nothing to report

May 13, 2012

Nothing to report

May 12, 2012

Good News. We had nest #2 this morning. A turtle with a 37” crawl laid 126 eggs at marker 64.5. The eggs were relocated back above the high tide mark.

May 11, 2012

Nothing to report.

May 10, 2012

Nothing to report.

May 9, 2012

Nothing to report.

May 8, 2012

Nothing to report.

May 7, 2012

Nothing to report.

May 6, 2012

Nothing to report.

May 5, 2012

Nothing to report.

May 4, 2012

Still a lot of ghost crab activity at Nest #1, otherwise nothing to report.

May 3, 2012

Nothing to report.

May 2, 2012

Nothing to report.

May 1, 2012

Nothing to report.

April 30, 2012

Nothing to report.

April 29, 2012

Nothing to report.

April 28, 2012

No new activity today just an update on Nest #1, it was actually first in the State this year. Pictures attached of the nest and also the 9 ft. long alligator that was later relocated.

picture 003 Taken 04-2012
Nest #1
alligator on beach
alligator on beach

April 27, 2012

We got a call from Pam Ingram this morning about a nest in front of the Golf Course that had been dug into. When we were at the nest a lady said she had seen it yesterday morning but didn’t know who to call. There were 32 eggs scattered over a wide area of dunes and fox prints. There were still eggs undisturbed so we covered them and caged the nest. This is nest #1, laid on April 27th, very early for us. It was a 39” crawl at marker 77.

We will start patrolling tomorrow morning.