We met LOTS of new beach visitors this week who were learning about sea turtles for the first time! It’s exciting to have so much interest and to be able to teach children AND adults about sea turtle facts and how we work to protect them.
Interestingly enough, almost everyone asked “Are the sea turtles going to hatch because it’s a full moon?” While the full moon is extremely beneficial to hatching sea turtles because it helps guide them to ocean, it is really not a factor as to WHEN they hatch. Sea turtle nests have an average incubation period of about 60 days. It can take longer for nests laid in cooler temps, and may be shorter for warmer, mid-summer nests. And when they hatch, it can be at any phase of the moon. This includes the very dark nights of a new moon, which is why beachside homes help us and the baby sea turtles by keeping their lights low or off.
Nesting Updates
With a current count of 39 nests, Caswell Beach is slowly building its nest count. More days than not have resulted in numerous False Crawls only, with no new nests. In a recent NCWRC Permit Holders’ Meeting, we learned from our state biologist that the whole state of NC’s nest count is lower than the last 5 years average, so we are not alone.
Our Nest #39’s mama crawled a ways until she found her spot well enough over the high tideline. She was a small mama, maybe a returning mama from earlier in the summer. Crawl Width: 70.4cm/29″
In one recent False Crawl, the mama tried to climb up a 12+ foot eroded dune escarpment! Bless her, she worked so hard to have to give up. This partuclar beach area has lost up to 14 yards of sand and the tide comes right up to the edge every day, not just on lunar tides or King tides. Another recent False Crawl had very interesting flipper marks! This expecting Mama appears to be missing her left front flipper.
We are observing that many False Crawls are obvious U-Turns, or stops at embankements. Unfortunately, we are still observing footprints around many crawls, nesting or false. Please help these mamas nest successfully by maintaining a 20 ft+ distance. It’s a much more rewarding experience to see a mama turtle complete her misson than watching her run off to the sea, not to mention it is helping sea turtle babies survive!
We were grateful to receive multiple calls this week about nesting mamas. Despite all of the available shoreline that Caswell Beach offers, one mama managed to climb up a dune and nest on top of another nest! There is even a possibility that this may be the same mama that created the first nest. There is a unique drag mark that our Morning Patrol observed from both nesting crawls. These nests will be sure to provide an interesting challenge for our monitoring teams!
We were fortunate to have little impact from Chantal. It certainly kept the mamas away, so we had no nest or crawls during the storm. One nest experienced slight splash over. The strong winds shifting sand around, especially at dune cliffs, was the more challenging part. Some of our nests are right at the edge of these cliffs. Fingers crossed they hang in there! We are starting to green some of our early nests, which generally take a bit longer to incubate, but we want to be prepared. See highlights from this week below.
**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.