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 to the accesses.
Susan found the eggs for Nest #90 today. What a great birthday present for her! Happy Birthday, Susan!! Visitors called late last night to let us know they were watching the Mama from a respectful distance. We appreciated the call!
Another crawl was found about 100 yards away. Mama crawled high into and over a dune. We dug and dug and were not able to locate an egg chamber. The crawl widths are very close, so it could have been the same turtle. There were also some four footed animal tracks, crab tracks and possibly human tracks nearby so Mama may have been scared away. We are calling this a false crawl.
Nest #5 had about 5 hatchlings emerge and crawl over the back of the runway from sand build up. The wind and sand has been brutal! Thankfully, some of the tracks led to the high tide line.
Nest #14 had “+2 10:14 pm” written in the runway.
Nest #17 had 4 hatchlings emerge last night on day 54 and a few more tracks were seen in the runway this morning
Pebble Beach Patrol found Otter Tracks and Alligator Tracks! WOW!
**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 22ST03).
