September 4, 2016

We are still having inventoried nest’s residue being dug up by either foxes or coyotes. Nothing new to report from us, but I just got a message from Oak Island that one of their nests hatched last night. It had been overwashed and it was at day 50.

Be positive – September 3, 2016

We went out early to assess and again with a plan. The beach looked very different this morning but is very populated again now.

Inventoried nests:
37 – 116 shells, 10 unhatched, 4 dead
38 – 107 shells, 10 unhatched/pipped dead, 1 live
40 – 93 shells, 25 pipped dead, 23 unhatched, 5 dead, 26 live
41 – 92 shells, 5 unhatched, 21 pipped dead, 27 live
42 – 78 shells, 7 unhatched/pipped dead, 5 live
44 – 94 shells, 28 unhatched/pipped dead, 3 dead, 34 live
Some inventories were on the scheduled date, some were before the storm urge and nest 37 was today.

Nests missing cages: 45, 46, 51, 52 & 53
Nests at public parking: 48, 49 & 50
Nests at east end by Baptist: 43, 54 & 55

All nest have been over washed and a couple look like they had standing water. Something that I have learned through my adventures in life is that if you have a negative person in the group, negativity spreads. If you have a disgruntled person in the group, nobody is happy anymore. As the leader of this group, I am choosing to be positive. We are not going to give up on any nest yet. The nests that have lost the cages, we still have a general or even good idea of where they are and we know from experience (nest 32) that it can still happen without a cage in place. We are trying to figure out a way to locate each nest as close as we can. We may end up putting green around an area as the day gets closer but every cage has green again today. I have pictures that I will share later. Remember that the overwash could add days to incubation.

Late afternoon report – September 2, 2016

Evening all.
I am the first to try to keep a positive outlook but this evening, it doesn’t look so great for our turtles. We stopped at Bob Spake to check on nest 45 and I didn’t actually see the nest. The saving factor is that it’s on a knoll…I think. The picture I’m sending is at the end of the walkway at Bob Spake. The 3 remaining nests at the public parking are all under water. We were not able to make it down to the east end because of the flooded road. We plan to check them all tomorrow on foot whenever the rain stops and will let you know what we find.

Results of Hermine
Results of Hermine

Nest #42 hatched – August 31, 2016

Boy what a rain last night.  I know some of you got soaked because I saw your empty cars as I was heading out.  Thank you for your dedication but just as a reminder, please do not be on the beach during lightning.  I love my turtles but I love you more.

Nest 42 hatched at the onset of the rain.  Team 5 counted 71 before they left for cover. Inventory Friday.

Nest 40 had a crevice this morning.  It was lightly over washed by the tide again but we are still hopeful.

Nest 41 looks like it may have hatched too but there were no tracks of course.  We will start a 5 day count, so Sunday inventory.

Inventory results for nest #39:  97 shells, 18 unhatched, 2 pipped dead, 1 dead and 37 live hatchlings.

And the best news of the day…Reece continues to improve. Probably not quite ready for release but looking good.

Reese is improving
Reese is improving

Nest #39 hatched – August 28, 2016

Evening report:

Nest #39 hatched at about 9:15 last night. Just 45 days. Inventory Tuesday
Nest #31 inventory results: 111 shells, 5 unhatched, 1 dead and 7 live
hatchlings

Morning report:

Nest 37 had a depression that was not there last night.
Nest 55 had a small depression
Nest 43 had a big hole
Nest 41 had a big hole
Nest 51 had a small depression
Nest 39 hatched last night. There was a small depression more turtles might have come out but hard to tell because of the rain.
Nest 34 There were tracks of 1 turtle further down the runway. This may have been left over from the previous day for there did not seem to be tracks inside the cage.
Between nests 34 and 47 an animal had dug up an old nest and eggs were scattered everywhere. We gathered them up and filled the hole back in.
Nest 40 had an indentation. There were two small crab holes inside the cage.
Nest 44 still has a crack and now has a small indentation.
Nest 42 had a crevice and an indentation.
Nest 35 It appeared as if two turtles could have hatched last night. There was also a crab hole in the nest.

Nest 36 inventory tonight.

This year is proving to be unlike any other. The nests are hatching so
early and we’ve had more trickle nests that I ever remember. We are
definitely on the wind down but still have 18 unhatched nests to watch. We probably need to be sure the green is out at 45 days. The light rain could be causing some of the nests to look like they have a depression but we are sure we’ve had nests hatching between 45 and 50 days. Thank you for all your time and dedication. We could have a really busy week this week. Let us know if you need anything.

Nest #35 hatched – August 27, 2016

The bugs won last night. I know several teams stayed out for a while and bless you for trying.

Nest #35 hatched during the night. Inventory Monday.
Nest #44 has a crack
Nest #34 had one more emerge or could have been crab tracks
Nest #39 has a crack
Nest #46 you can see the hole has a little crack
Nest #41 has a crevice
Nest #43 the hole is outlined and dropped. We put the green around the cage.
Nest #31 inventory tonight @7

Be sure to check your upcoming nests. Green has been delivered up to #44
but if you get to your nest and see you need more green or tools just let
me know.