Saturday, August 20

Friday:

  • Nest #42 Inventory
    • Live- 6
    • Dead- 1
    • Pipped- 2
    • Unhatched- 10
    • Hatched Egg Shells- 127
  • Nest #46 Inventory
    • Live- 23 (trapped under wet sand, egg shells and LOTS of roots)
    • Dead- 0
    • Pipped- 2
    • Unhatched- 18
    • Hatched Egg Shells- 90
  • Nests #45 and #51 hatched last night.

Saturday Morning:

Nest #50 had hatchlings emerge overnight with lots of tracks.  Sadly, 3 hatchlings were attacked by crabs.

Nest #73 (Yes, you saw that right!) has a small dip and an oval crack.  It is on Day 39.  It could be from the rain, but MP dropped off green just in case something happens in the next several days. Our earliest incubation on record was Day 44. 

Greening by Day 50 should be the norm at this time for sure! 

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 22ST03).

Friday, August 19

*Perk to sitting at a nest:  The sunsets are amazing!

Thursday Night:

  • Nest #43 Inventory
    • Live- 10
    • Dead- 1
    • Pipped- 4
    • Unhatched- 1
    • Hatched Egg Shells- 93
    • Pieces- 2 handfuls
  • Nest #48 Inventory
    • Live- 10
    • Dead- 0
    • Pipped- 1
    • Unhatched- 0
    • Hatched Egg Shells- 114
  • Nest #47 13 more hatchlings.
  • Nest #49 had a first emergence of 57 hatchlings.
  • Many of our nests are showing signs of activity (pipping out of their shells underneath) with emergences happening a few days later.

Friday Morning:  RAIN (Thanks to Teresa and Joy for patrolling)

Nest #49 had more turtle tracks and 1 hatchling being attacked by a crab.  Turtle was saved and released!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 22ST03).

Thursday, August 18

Special thanks to Turtle Ambassadors Tom and Mary who watched a hatchling from Nest #42 make it safely to the water late last night! They also filled in 2 big motes near the Villas! We appreciate all our beach visitors do to help us protect our turtles!

Many Volunteers and visitors toughed it out in the light rain last night! Thanks for your dedication! The bugs came out in great force and sent many more home. No need to suffer!!!!

It was a very calm and quiet morning out there with a light breeze and flat water.

Nests #46 & #47 both had more hatchlings emerge overnight.

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 22ST03).

Wednesday, August 17

Tuesday Night:

We had a call about a hatchling in the marsh in Southport!  Thanks to the Turtle Ambassadors who helped us retrieve it!  The area was surveyed and no additional hatchlings or nest areas were found. We did have some false crawls not too far away that were surveyed by our patrol team from The Landing last night and this morning.  Nothing was found.  We have a mystery!

  • Nest #39 Inventory
    • Live- 0
    • Dead- 0
    • Pipped- 0
    • Unhatched- 3
    • Hatched Egg Shells- 72
    • + Pieces
  • Nest #47 had hatchlings emerge last night. We thought they might have emerged during the storm Monday night, but no!

Tuesday Morning:

Several nests still have depressions with no evidence of emergence, yet.

  • Nest #40 Inventory
    • Live- 0
    • Dead- 0
    • Pipped- 5
    • Unhatched- 0
    • Hatched Egg Shells- 110
    • Some pieces

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 22ST03)

Nest #40 Inventory
Nest #40 Inventory

Tuesday, August 16

That RAIN!!!  It was not possible to determine how many nests may have hatched last night.  I will be conferring with Matthew Godfrey about possibilities.

Monday Night:

  • Nest #37 Inventory
    • Live- 9
    • Dead- 7
    • Pipped- 1
    • Unhatched- 4
    • Hatched Egg Shells- 112
  • Nest #41 Inventory
    • Live- 0
    • Dead- 0
    • Pipped- 0
    • Unhatched- 3
    • Hatched Egg Shells- 92
    • Pieces- Handful

Tuesday Morning:

  • Nest #38 Inventory
    • Live- 2
    • Dead- 0
    • Pipped- 2
    • Unhatched- 78
    • Hatched Egg Shells- 60
    • This was a relocated nest with 152 eggs.  Large nests tend to not have a good % of hatching success.
  • Nest #42 had an emergence as 3 live hatchlings were still in the runway this morning along with 1 dead hatchling.
  • Nests #44, #46, #47 & #49  all had large indentations and/or holes.  No hatchling tracks could be determined.
  • Nests #40 & #48 had crab holes.
  • Nest #42 had 3 holes, 1 was for sure a crab.

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 22ST03).

Monday, August 15

Nests #43 & #48 boiled overnight last night at some point after the teams left (of course).  Nest #48 was on Day 49/50 depending on when it hatched.  Team 3 did get to see 1 hatchling emerge at about 8:30 pm.  There were several small groups of visitors who were able to watch it make it’s way to the water!

We inventoried Nest #9 at about 7:30 this morning.

Sadly, it was as we feared.  No eggs had any evidence of development.  All were liquid with yolks. The eggs were also very thin and easily broken when picked up.  It will be interesting to receive the DNA information and know if our Mama is the same Mama as the other nests in NC!  We hope Mama learns what she needs to know about reproduction and comes back to see us in the future!!!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 22ST03).

Sunday, August 14

  • Saturday Night:
  • Lots of sitting without any progress last night!  I hope the bugs didn’t feast on you!
    • Nest #36 Inventory
      • Live- 1
      • Dead- 6
      • Pipped-1
      • Unhatched- 4
      • Hatched Egg Shells- 116
  • Sunday Morning:
    • Nest #48 (DAY 49) has a crater!  Thank goodness Team 3 greened early!  Beach visitors (now Turtle Ambassadors, Linda and Mike) stayed up all night watching the nest.  Hope it hatches tonight!
    • Nest #37 had 1 more hatchling track (the lone hatchling was reported to our phone in wee hours).
    • Nest #41 has a little circular crack near the center.
    • Crab holes in Nests #38, #40, #42, #43

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 22ST03)

Saturday, August 13

Friday:

  • Nest #32 Inventory
    • Live- 2
    • Dead- 0
    • Pipped- 0 
    • Unhatched Eggs- 3
    • Hatched Eggs- 102
  • Nest #33 Inventory
    • Live- 0
    • Dead- 0
    • Pipped- 0 
    • Unhatched Eggs- 5
    • Hatched Eggs- 108
  • Nest #41 boiled at 7:30pm with 91 hatchlings running to the water within 10 minutes!

Saturday Morning:

  • Nest #38 has a big drop and some faint tracks.
  • Nest #40 had a crab hole.
  • Nest #41 had a crab.
  • Nest #44 had a splash over during high tide.
  • Nests #51 & #51 have blown over runways.

The temps are much more pleasant for sitting tonight!  Thanks for all you are doing!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 22ST03).

Friday, August 12

WOW!  What a morning!

No new crawls, but LOTS of wind and sand!  Please check your runways, many are FULL!

Thursday Night:

  • Nest #30 Inventory (in the light rain)
    • Live- 4
    • Dead- 5
    • Pipped- 0
    • Unhatched- 8
    • Hatched Egg Shells- 119
    • Lots of excited families!!!

Friday Morning:

  • Nest #37 had some hatchlings emerge overnight and THEN 24 more came out at 7:00 with a very sweet lady watching with Morning Patrol!  She has been trying for 10 years to see a boil!  Pictures attached, Video to come later!
  • Nest #40 had a large depression and 1 hatchling track.
  • Nest #43 had a deep depression with cracks.
  • Nest #39 had a small depression behind the center of the nest, possibly crab activity.
  • Nest #41 had a large crab hole.
  • Nest #32 was dug into and poles knocked down by a 4 pawed animal!  The animal did not reach the eggshells.  Lots of paw prints.

We are supposed to get heavy rains today.  I know we need it! Remember that turtles can be sneaky in the rain!

#37 after overnight emergence, but before the morning boil of 24

During morning boil

Thursday, August 11

No new crawls and no new emergences.

The moon was beautiful last night, though!

  • Nest #28 Inventory
    • Live- 2
    • Dead- 3
    • Pipped- 0
    • Unhatched- 17
    • Hatched Egg Shells- 90
  • Nest #35 Inventory
    • Live- 2
    • Dead- 3
    • Pipped- 2
    • Unhatched- 20
    • Hatched Egg Shells- 90

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 22ST03).