Sea Turtle activity is getting busy on Caswell Beach this week! The Caswell Beach Turtle Watch teams have been very active preparing our first nests with runways, locating new nests and checking numerous false crawls, and monitoring our first nest emergence. Along with Ocean Isle Beach, Caswell Beach has the first documented sea turtle nest hatch for North Carolina!
Nest #49 was laid safely in a dune! Nest #50 was laid in a large pile of dune grass, challenging the morning patrol to locate those eggs!
Will we get more? Based on the False Crawls we are seeing the Sea Turtle Mamas are ready to get more nests laid.
We have had numerous False Crawls in the past day, two of which went right through existing nests. Fortunately, our wider nest barriers this season are not impeding these mamas.
Last but not least, we had our first nest emergence last night. It was a partial emergence so we expect more to trickle out in the next days. Our earlier nests always take longer, but with the heat we’ve had we expect the pace to pick up soon on nest hatches.
**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 24ST03).
Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations.
Sea Turtle Nest #49
Sea Turtle Nest #50
Sea Turtle Nest #3 – Partial Emergence
False Crawls – Sunday
False Crawls – Monday
Nest Greenings
