Caswell Beach’s sea turtles are feeling the effects of Mother Nature in many ways in these past weeks. Erosion is battering our dunes feet at a time, higher tides are making beach areas inaccessible and overwashing nests, and well – it’s just been very, very hot. But sea turtles are enduring in surprising and miraculous ways. You just can’t help being in awe of Mother Nature and the wonder of sea turtle mamas and their baby hatchlings!
This past week, we have had a very successful nest hatch from the smallest and most engangered species of sea turtle, Kemp’s Ridley. We are working on an in-depth overview of this hatch to share with you all soon – check back! Additionally, we had an undiscovered nest that was laid below the tide line, overwashed by the tide AND exposing its eggs, that was subsequently relocated. We did not have high hopes for this nest, but did our duty to see it through. Lo and behold it surprised us by hatching earlier than expected with a very healthy hatch count. That’s a true turtle miracle.
With the heat, several of our first few nests have boiled fast and big. Those little babies are proving very anxious to get into that water. We’ve enjoyed having many spectators join us for these hatches, with many learning about sea turtles for the first time. It’s been wonderful to see so many children see their first turtle and ask so many engaging questions!
We are also so grateful for the huge outpouring of public support we have received this season from homeowners to visitors. Thank you for all the calls, lights off, filling in beach holes and those huge crab holes (see below!), and your efforts to help educate others on the beach!
While we still have a low nest count for this season along with many other beaches, we picked up a couple of new nests this week as well. All in all, it’s been a very busy and rewarding week of Mother Nature’s miracles at work.
Nest Hatchings
Inventories
New Nests
**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 25ST03).
Please consider donating to our efforts as we build up our necessary resources for the season.
You can donate at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations.
PS. Watch out for those crab holes! Wish we could get THEM to fill them in.
