Posts by Caswell Turtle Watch

Nest #17 Inventory Live-1 Dead-1 Pipped Eggs-1 Unhatched-41 Hatched Egg Shells-80 This nest was naturally laid in a dune with thick roots in the nest cavity.  It was very difficult to extract the nest contents!   Nest #24 Inventory Live-6 Dead-0 Pipped-2 Unhatched Eggs-14 Hatched Egg Shells-81 We relocated this nest from Southport and knew there were Read More

We had 3 false crawls this morning.  1 was obvious, she couldn’t get up the mid-beach escarpment.  The other 2 had apparent human footprints as well as dog prints all around and even on top of the nesting area.  Sadly, these mamas were probably scared off by human curiosity. Nest #16 had a large crab hole Nest Read More

Last night was another sand blowing, busy night and we had 1 new nest this morning! Nest #8 was Inventoried with excited visiting families attending! Live Hatchlings-1 Dead Hatchlings-0 Unhatched Eggs-13 Pipped Eggs-1 Hatched Egg Shells-106 Nest #24 had a sweet lone hatchling appear a little before 8pm.  More than a dozen beach visitors got to see Read More

It was a quiet morning with no activity, but last night was hopping!!! Nest #14 had a nice Inventory with a couple of families in attendance. Live Hatchlings-8 Dead Hatchlings-0 Unhatched Eggs-3 Hatched Egg Shells-111 Nest #15 boiled with 112 hatchlings within 9 minutes and 2 others later! Nest #17 had a few come out Read More

The action is picking up! Nests #13, #17, #19 and #24 had hatchlings emerge in varying numbers last night. Nest #13 hatched while it was still light enough to actually see the hatchlings and the visitors were thrilled. We had 1 new nest and no false crawls. Nest #91 looks to have been our missing Read More

We had a bit of an adventure today!  The buggy is having some issues, so we had to implement Morning Patrol Plan B.  We split up the beach into sections and 10 of us patrolled by walking.  It went very well but we had to have Gary ready with his truck to haul nesting supplies Read More

Lots of excitement overnight and this morning!   Nest #8 hatched at about 9:50 with 96 hatchlings and some very helpful residents!  We have some new Turtle Ambassadors!  2 more hatchlings emerged at some point later. Nest #14 had 4 more hatchlings emerge after 9:40 last night with more helpful visitors! *Pebble Beach Patrol found lots of Read More

No new nests and no false crawls this morning.  3 more hatchling tracks  from Nest #11 Crab Hole at Nest #13 (Large crab) We got a call from our Pebble Beach Patrol in Southport about what looks like a single hatchling crawl. Susan and I checked it out, but we couldn’t find an emergence area.  Read More

Nest #4’s Inventory went well with a small respectful crowd.  Results:  Live Hatchlings-1 Dead Hatchlings-0 Pipped-0 Hatched Egg Shells-83 **This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 22ST03).

We had babies last night with many excited and helpful beach visitors! Nest #5 had 90 hatchlings emerge at a slow pace, many crawling/falling back into the nest and some turning around as they made it part way down the runway.  There wasn’t a major offending light until they would have reached the end of Read More