Saturday, September 29

Nest 38 was inventoried resulting in 60 unhatched eggs. We checked several eggs and looks as if they had started development. The heavy rains created puddles of standing water in the Tom Hess area during the first weeks of August.

Nest 31 and 35 are considered lost because of Florence but probably would have been the same as nest 38.

Nest 39 is at 64 days incubation and there’s still hope.

Nest 40….we have been watching the area but believe it was lost to the hurricane too.

Saturday, September 22

    Post Hurricane Florence

MORNING!!!

We are back. I rode the beach yesterday afternoon and words cannot describe what it looks like out there. There’s washed out places at most walkovers. Debris is all over the beach. The sand is gone. It’s amazing.

We still have nests 38 and 39 in place. We will look for 40 but I believe it was washed away. I don’t expect anything from 38 but hopeful that 39 could still produce hatchlings. Oak Island has had a few hatchlings the last 2 days. We are hopeful.

Monday, September 10

The evening on the beach was nerve wrecking. The tide came all the way to the dune at Tom Hess walkway. The 4 nests there were covered. Green was washing away.

Nests 33 and 36 inventories were scheduled for the evening but nest 34 was done a day early because the water was a couple of feet away and still rising. Nest 26 was at 70 days.

The nesting sight east of the Baptist walkover and beside nest 34 hatched during yesterday’s rain and inventoried just before high tide. Nest #42!

Nest 26: 124 unhatched eggs
Nest 34: 92 shells and 4 unhatched eggs
Nest 33: 91 unhatched eggs, 28 shells, 1 live hatchling with really small front flippers
Nest 36: 88 shells, 10 unhatched, 2 pipped dead, 2 pipped live and 14 live hatchlings
Nest 42: 113 shells, 5 unhatched, 1 dead and 5 live hatchlings

We’ve picked up green at Tom Hess. Nests 37, 39 and 40 seem to be okay for now.