Friday, May 20

It’s been another busy day! This morning we had a crawl we believed to be a nest, but we were not able to find the eggs.  Mama had a small crawl width, 71 cm or 28 inches wide.  Her incoming tracks and outgoing tracks had a large gap that meant she was there for a good while.  At this point, it is documented as a false crawl, but we marked the area as a Nesting Site (NS).  We will watch the area closely in 55-65 days for signs of activity!  

This afternoon we were called by Turtle Ambassadors to the front of the Oak Island Villas today They called us about a juvenile green turtle that was stranded in the surf, injured and very sick. We transported her/him to the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Topsail Beach. She had been sedentary for quite some time after her injury (cut carapace) and was covered in vegetation and barnacles. The wonderful team at KBSTRRC was taking great care of her! They are naming turtles after Crayola Crayon colors. We named the turtle “Gritty Green” because of all the encrusted sand on her carapace.

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