2023 Turtle Season

We at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch were very excited earlier this season when we suspected one of our new nests (#66) was a Green Turtle nest (see July 11 post).

Our suspicions were correct! We were so excited to see the very first hatchling so that we could confirm the status of this nest!  It was a beautiful hatchling!!  Green Turtles have a very distinct markings. The turtles trickled out over a couple of days.  Then the King Tides arrived and the storm was approaching.  We were given permission by NCWRC to emergency excavate emerged nests early (we need this approval for any variance to their standard regulations), so we did so at almost dark on Monday night before the storm hit. 

We were sad to find that not all of the hatchlings made it out of this special nest due to the heat.  Here is the story of our Green Turtle nest!

We had a surprise yesterday afternoon. Our last Nesting Site showed evidence of an emergence. A Nesting Site is an area where the Mama spent a good amount of time, but the nest chamber was not located by our patrol. Mama came in on August 4th.

Our best guess is that the nest hatched during the rains on Friday into Saturday. After digging an arms length deep, our patrol found the nest. That makes this Nest #96. Unfortunately they found many deceased hatchlings. Sadly the heavy rains must have stopped their progress out of the nest. Nature isn’t always kind.

Nest #96 Inventory
Hatched Egg Shells – 107
Unhatched Eggs – 3
Pipped – 0
Live in Nest – 0
Dead in Nest -66

We choose to focus on the 41 hatchlings that emerged!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

It was chilly and quiet out there this morning.  

We had 2 successful inventories last evening for the 2 nests that hatched during Friday-Saturday’s rain.

Nest #87 Inventory
Hatched Egg Shells – 61
Unhatched Eggs – 8
Pipped – 0
Live – 0
Dead – 0
+ 2 small spacer eggs

Nest #89 Inventory
Hatched Egg Shells – 105
Unhatched Eggs – 8
Pipped – 0
Live – 2
Dead – 0

Nest 87:

Nest 89:

Looks like we made it through the storm! It was cold out there this morning and there was no damage to the remaining nests!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

It has been very quiet on the beach the last couple of nights! The rain the night before could have erased any traces of activity, so hard to tell. There have been gorgeous sunsets and sunrises, though!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

After several days with a crater on top, several nights of sitting until 11pm or after, much speculation about whether or not it hatched during the rain early Wednesday morning and finding flies/ants at the nest this morning, Nest #82 was excavated as soon as the team could arrive.  The nest HAD in fact hatched without our knowledge and we were babysitting empty shells!  Thanks to Team 5 for your diligence during the buggy nights and quick response this morning!

Nest #82 Inventory:
Hatched Egg Shells – 91
Unhatched Eggs – 18
Nothing else.  

That is all the news this morning.

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

It was nice to see the stars again last night.  Many visitors were out hoping to see some turtle hatch, but they just weren’t ready to come out (while we all were there)!  The surge from the storm way off shore brought the tides up close to many nests hours after high tide.  Nest #85 has been unlucky with overwash since the week after it was laid.  Sadly, last night was no exception.

We were concerned about Nest #84 because of an issue with Ants on top of the nest and going into the center.  We’ve never seen such an invasion!  We kept sweeping them away, but they always returned.  A volunteer did some research and we put cornstarch around the perimeter.  It seemed to help a lot on the outside of the nest.  After consulting with our State Coordinator at NCWRC, it was determined an emergency excavation could be done as soon as a fair number of hatchlings emerged.  Excavating a nest before they are developmentally ready could be life threatening for the turtles.  Fortunately, the nest hatched overnight!  We did the emergency excavation this morning and were able to save 26 hatchlings from ant attack!  1 baby was covered with ants and had to be immediately rinsed off and set aside for recovery.  The stats were devastating.  I don’t know how we were not attacked ourselves, but we did not get even 1 ant bite.

Nest #84 Inventory:
Hatched Eggs – 65
Unhatched Eggs – 26
Pipped – 7
Live – 26 (1 badly attacked)
Dead – 26 (many covered in ants)

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

Wednesday night had lots of beautiful distant lightning and cool breezes.  We all went in when the wind shifted, bugs came out and the rain got closer.

Nest #83 Inventory:
Hatched Egg Shells – 95
Unhatched Eggs – 15
Pipped – 0
Live – 3

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

We really are starting to slow down!  Last night was beautiful with the lightning show (the storm was in Florence and Lumberton), Starlink Satellite Train (22 lights) and the cool breeze.  We have 11 nests still incubating on Caswell Beach.  The hatchlings will probably take a few more days to incubate than the ones pre-Idalia.  The high tideline is much lower now, so hopefully anything swells comes our way from Hurricane Lee won’t be a problem!

Nest #79 Inventory:
Hatched Egg Shells – 41
Unhatched Eggs – 24
Pipped – 3
Spacer Eggs – 2 tiny ones

Nest #79

Morning Activity

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

We had another beautiful evening for the inventories last night! There were no new nest hatchlings to report from the inventories.

Nest #83 had no activity last night but a few more tracks in the runway this morning.

Nest #73 Inventory:
Hatched Egg Shells – 82
Unhatched Eggs – 15
Pipped – 0
Live – 1
Dead – 0

Nest #80 Inventory:
Hatched Egg Shells – 71
Unhatched Eggs – 51
Pipped – 0
Live – 0
Dead – 1

Nest #81 Inventory:
Hatched Egg Shells – 100
Unhatched Eggs – 19
Pipped – 2
Live – 2
Dead – 0

Nest #73

Nest 80

Nest 81

Morning Activity

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

Nest #75 Inventory (last night – We had a sweet family from Kentucky observe!)
Hatched Egg Shells – 80
Unhatched Eggs – 1w
Pipped -1

Nest #77 Inventory (this morning)
Hatched Egg Shells – 98
Unhatched Eggs – 28

Nest #75

Nest #77

Morning Activity

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

It was a quiet and inactive night last night, except for the crabs.  Nest #37 had 4 egg shells pulled out.  

Our Inventories in the last 24 hours have yielded very different results.  Weather, tides and the type of sand can all play a part, not to mention the genetics of the turtle parents.  

Nest #9 Inventory:  Thursday Evening
(Badly overwashed by King Tides, repeatedly)
Hatched Egg Shells – 0
Unhatched Eggs- 113

Nest #30 Inventory:  Thursday Evening
Hatched Egg Shells – 50
Unhatched Eggs – 38
Pipped – 0
Live – 1
Dead – 0

Nest #34 Inventory:  Thursday Evening
Hatched Egg Shells – 127
Unhatched Eggs -20
Pipped – 0
Live – 0
Dead – 0

Nest #18 Inventory:  Friday Morning (Overwashed by King Tides)
Hatched Egg Shells –  7
Unhatched – 65
Pipped – 0
Live – 0
Dead – 0

Nest #9 Inventory

Nest #30 Inventory

Nest #34 Inventory

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

Looks like our False Crawl from yesterday returned and laid today!

She tricked us by evidently turning towards the east before she dug her chamber.  Yay, Barbara for finding the eggs!

Nests #35 & #37 had some emergence overnight.  It is hard to know how many with the rain drops from the storm.  Nest #37 had a late arrival during patrol this morning.  He was a strong one!

Nest #28 Inventory (Wednesday Evening)
Hatched Eggs – 60
Unhatched Eggs – 4
Pipped – 0
Live – 0
Dead – 0

Nest #93

Morning Activity

Nest #28 Inventory

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

We had another False Crawl on the East End this morning.  She crawled up an escarpment, up a dune slope and slid down to crawl back to the water.  Goodness, that was a lot of work!

Some of the nests gained sand during the high winds yesterday.  There were no nest emergence.

Nest #20 Inventory (last evening)
Hatched Egg Shells – 100
Unhatched Eggs – 18
Pipped – 0
Live – 1
Dead – 0

Nest #33 Inventory (this morning)
Hatched Egg Shells – 98
Unhatched Eggs – 25
Pipped – 1
Live – 0
Dead – 0
Live – 0
Dead – 0

False Crawl

Nest #20

Nest #33

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

We had another False Crawl today.  We hope she will come back. Our Mama’s are definitely nesting later this season!

Interesting fact: 
In 2020 we had a nest on August 22, 2020.  It hatched on October 29th with 92% successfully hatched!  We can’t wait to see how this season ends!

Nest #20 had 4-5 more hatchling tracks this morning.
Nest #33 had 1 more hatchling track this morning.

Nest #19 Inventory (1-2 slight overwash from tide)
Hatched Egg Shells – 55
Unhatched Eggs – 24
Pipped – 0
Live – 1
Dead -0

Nest #27 Inventory
Hatched Egg Shells – 110
Unhatched Eggs – 7
Pipped – 2
Live – 2
Dead – 0 

Nest #19 Inventory

Nest #27 Inventory

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

Just when you think you’re through, we have Nest #92!  What a surprise!
Nest #92 was laid high and dry in a safe location. Crawl WIdth:  78cm/31″

Nest #34 had some turtles emerge last night between 8:30 – 11:30 with Team 4 present.  They were so very happy to see hatchlings!

We had 2 inventories last night and 1 this morning.

Nest #26
Hatched Egg Shells – 107
Unhatched Eggs – 26
Pipped – 2
Live – 1
Dead – 2

Nest #31
Hatched Egg Shells – 85
Unhatched Eggs – 13
Pipped – 0
Live –  2
Dead – 0

Nest #32
Hatched Egg Shells – 96
Unhatched Eggs – 16
Pipped – 2
Live – 13
Dead – 4

Nest #92

Nest #26 Inventory

Nest #31 Inventory

Nest #34 Inventory

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

Saturday Inventories:
No new crawls to report.  Laying may have ended for the season. Today was very busy attending to 6! inventories, 2 morning and 4 evening.  The evening had large crowds.  SPECIAL THANKS to the teams who came and assisted at the evening inventories! 

Saturday/Sunday Hattches:
Last night we had 3 nests with some emergence!

Nest #19 had 4 hatchlings emerge with Team 3 present.  3 were disoriented by a street light.

Nest #33 had 84 hatchlings emerge at 10:49 with Team 10 present.  They moved very quickly as a group down the center of runway and straight to the water. A few stragglers trying to keep up with the group headed back up the ramp but eventually found their way to the water.

Nest #28 had 85-90 hatchlings emerge at 12:18 am with Team 5 present and some happy visitors.

Inventories in occurrence order:

Nest #17  Inventory (see Yesterday’s Post)
Hatched Egg Shells – 90
Unhatched – 18
Pipped – 2
Live – 0
Dead – 0

Nest #14  Inventory (see Yesterday’s Post)
Hatched Egg Shells – 118
Unhatched – 2
Pipped – 0
Live – 2
Dead – 1

Nest #15  Inventory
Hatched Egg Shells – 131
Unhatched – 13
Pipped – 0
Live – 6
Dead – 6

Nest #23  Inventory
Hatched Egg Shells – 116
Unhatched – 11
Pipped – 0
Live – 1
Dead – 1

Nest #25  Inventory
Hatched Egg Shells – 137
Unhatched – 5
Pipped – 0
Live – 0
Dead – 1

Nest #16  Inventory
Hatched Egg Shells – 15
Unhatched – 12
Pipped – 2
Live – 0
Dead – 11
Very Small Spacer Eggs – 11
There were only 29 eggs total! 40 with spacers!

Nest #15:

Nest #23:

Nest #25:

Nest #16:

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

Friday Night:
We learned from the DNA results of Nest #8 Mama that she typically lays small clutches of eggs.  This nest had a total of 50.

Nest #8 Inventory
Hatched Eggs – 44
Unhatched Egg – 6 with an additional 2 small spacer eggs
Pipped – 0
Live – 0
Dead – 0

Nest #20 had 104 hatchlings boil out at 9:28 pm.  Most of them decided to try and attend a Wedding at the Lazy Turtle restaurant before heading out to sea.  We are thankful for the help of about 10 Turtle Ambassadors who searched the beach to help locate the turtles! 

Saturday Morning:
Nest #14 Inventory
Hatched Eggs – 118
Unhatched Eggs – 2
Pipped – 0
Live – 2
Dead – 1

Nest #17 Inventory
Hatched Eggs – 90
Unhatched Eggs – 18
Pipped – 2
Live – 0
Dead – 0

Nests #29, #31 and #32 had a few more hatchling tracks each.

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

Thursday Night:

Nest #19 hatched last night with Team 4 presents, Team 3 joining in to help and many beach visitors!  The hatchling scout came out first and went straight to the water.  The other 52 followed after and hour of waiting.  Several of those were very disoriented.  

We were called at 10:10 about Nest #32 hatching.  The beach visitors watched  30-40 hatchlings emerge.  Some of the team returned in time to see a few go to the water.  We are grateful these Turtle Ambassadors called our number on the nest sign!!!

Friday Morning:

Nest #27 hatched overnight with LOTS of hatchling tracks!  There was no evidence of activity when the team left for the night. 

Nest #17 had a few more hatchling tracks this morning.

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

Never say you think you’re done!  We have Nest #91!  

The nest was laid in a great location.  We were able to talk with several visitors and explain the process of locating the eggs and the DNA collection.

Crawl Width:  83cm/32.5″

Also this morning, Nest #31 decided to hatch at about 6:00 am.  We had not yet arrived, but were able to see a few hatchlings make it to the water.  Thanks to the beach visitors who watched over them until we arrived!  A sweet preschooler was ecstatic to see the baby turtles!

Nest #15 had 5 more hatchlings emerge at about 9:05 last night with Team 2 present and many visitors. The turtles went straight to the water!

Nest #26 boiled at about 9:50 pm last night with Team 7 present along with about 50 visitors!  They saw 85 hatchlings in the boil and 2 more before they left for the night.  

Walking Patrol found an empty egg shell up on a dune.  We checked out a false crawl area, but were unable to see evidence of anything disturbed.  It’s a mystery!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

The other evening we had a couple of hatchlings that needed a little rest before they went out to sea. One was Leucistic. Leucism is a lack of pigment. The lack of pigment does not affect the eyes like in Albinism.

These are special creatures to behold!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

It was a busy night for turtle babies!

Nest #25 boiled with Team 9 present between 9:30-9:44.  There were 127 hatchlings in under 15 minutes!  It was low tide and a long walk, but they did it!  A few more emerged over night.

Nest #15 boiled at 10:00 with 119 hatchlings.  Unfortunately, about half of them were disoriented due to bright lights.  The team worked hard to see that all babies made it to the ocean!  Again, a few more emerged over night.

Nest #14 boiled with Team 6 present and MANY Turtle Ambassadors! 127 hatchlings went to the ocean with 2 being disoriented by a street light. The visitors were thrilled to see the emergence and hear all the information Team 6 had to share!

Nest #17 and #23 also emerged during the night!

Our Morning Patrol filled in a large hole.  It wasn’t very wide, but was almost as deep as a rake!  Very dangerous!

It appears that our Mamas may have gone back out to sea.  We haven’t had a new nest or crawl in 5 days.

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

Our monitoring teams had to leave their posts last night when the storm was approaching in order to stay safe!  The wind was still blowing out there this morning and some nest runways had a lot of sand blown in and buckets up in the dunes.  Our Morning Patrol and assigned teams will be checking all nests today.

We also have several inventories to report on – thanks to all the turtle supporters that joined us!

Thursday Evening Inventories:

Nest #1
Hatched Egg Shells – 72
Unhatched Eggs- 27
Pipped – 0
Live – 16
Dead – 0

Nest #12:
Hatched Egg Shells – 100
Unhatched Eggs- 21
Pipped – 0
Live – 0
Dead – 1

Nest #21:
Hatched Egg Shells – 100
Unhatched Eggs- 25
Pipped – 0
Live – 8
Dead -1

Nest #22:
Hatched Egg Shells – 110
Unhatched Eggs- 14
Pipped – 0
Live – 1
Dead – 3

The Live from Nest #22 was LEUCISTIC! Leucism is a lack of pigment.  The turtle has dark eyes, not pink like an Albino.

Nest #8 had 26 hatchlings before Team 8 left the beach.  +1 was added overnight.

Nest #32 has activity under the sand on DAY 48!  It was a relocated nest.

We had some awesome Turtle Ambassadors last night who are the Grandchildren of Jane and Milton Reece (former coordinators for CBTW).  The Goodall’s found a hatchling in a tidal pool and called us right away.  The hatchling was released in the water, beyond the breakers.  They are continuing their Grandparent’s legacy!

Nest Inventories!

(Includes our Daytime Mama Nest)

Nest #8 and #32 Activity, Morning Update

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

WOW! “Eagle Eye” Susan discovered a WILD nest today!  We will be checking our False Crawl data to see if this was one we couldn’t find or if it’s one we missed completely.  It was on the East End just over an escarpment in a badly eroded area.  When a wild nest is found, it is immediately excavated and inventoried.

Nest #90 Inventory:
Hatched Egg Shells – 126
Unhatched Eggs -2
No Pipped
No Dead
Live Hatchlings – 6

Nest #16 had 2 hatchling tracks this morning.

Nest #22 had a few more hatchlings to emerge.

Our last nest was 3 days ago, but we will keep checking for more!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

The Kemp’s Ridley Nest #24 Inventory took a very long time last night.  There were 11 hatchlings stuck under the damp sand that needed time to acclimate to being out of the nest.  Timothy, Fred, Gummy, Cutie Pie, Honey Love and Oreo were just some of the names given to the hatchlings from our cute observers.  The first 6 walked a long way down the runway and were then given the Turtle Taxi to the wet sand.  They were encouraged by the visitors as they crawled slowly and steadily until they hit the water and went out to sea.  The last 5 were very tired and less eager to make the trip.  They were taxied to the water’s edge and eventually made it into the water.  We wish them all the best of luck!  Thanks to all the Turtle Ambassadors and CBTW Volunteers for the help prior to the inventory!  Thanks also to the visitors for all the great questions and support!

Nest #24 Inventory Results:
Hatched Egg Shells – 88
Unhatched Eggs – 7
Pipped – 7
Dead – 1
Live – 11
Pieces – A handful
Relocated Eggs – 103

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

Last night Nest #1 had 1 more hatchling to appear and make it to the water with a large crowd of beach visitors.  He started making his appearance at noon, but smartly waited until after sunset!

There was no other turtle activity.  

Sadly, a large Hammerhead was found washed up at the Public Parking beach.  Marine Fisheries was called.  It’s uncertain how the shark died, but they commented that sometimes these sharks fight so hard when caught that they don’t survive.

We had a total of 3 beach holes reported last night and this morning.  Team 4 filled in a hole near the OKI Villas (no picture), Team 5 filled in a hole in the 200 block, and then this morning a hole at the Public Parking.  Thank you, Teams!  

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

There is so much going on that we almost forgot the INCREDIBLE inventory results from Nest #11!!!

Hatched Egg Shells – 140 (Yes, you read that right!)
Unhatched Eggs – 9
Pipped – 1
Dead – 2
Live – 2

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

It was another busy night on Caswell Beach. The rain sent many back to their cars, but some decided to tough it out.  The high tides were lower, but Nest #9 suffered badly and Nest #85 was overwashed.

Best News:  Nest #1 finally hatched!  Team 3 sat through 2 sessions of rain and they got to see 3 babies emerge from the nest and make it to the ocean!  That’s dedication!  There was 1 lone fella in the runway this morning with flipper issues.  We took him down to the wet sand where he crawled with his back flippers.  Later we checked back to make sure he had not been washed up again and we found 42+ hatchling tracks in the wet sand!  The sun was shining just right at that time for us to see them!  YAY, NEST #1!

Nest #22 boiled at 9:25pm with Team 1 seeing 78 hatchlings make it to the ocean!  No other tracks that we could tell this morning.

Nest #21 also hatched overnight!  The runway had lots and lots of tracks! 

These two nests were laid beside each other on the same day and they hatched the same night!  How cool is that?

No new crawls or nests today.  The tide was VERY LOW this morning.  Let’s hope these next nests will hatch at high tide!  It’s a long walk in some areas.

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

Last night was a busy night! It was wet and windy out this morning.  The tide has started receding and nest tops looked good.

Nest #2 Inventory
Hatched Egg Shells – 66, Unhatched Eggs – 45, Pipped – 0, Dead -1, Live -0

Nest #5 Inventory
Hatched Egg Shells – 124, Unhatched Eggs – 21, Pipped – 1, Dead -, Live -0

Nest #12 hatched at a full boil at 9:46.  93 hatchlings emerged with Team 5 in attendance.

We got a call at 11:00 PM letting us know that Nest #10 was hatchling with a full boil.  (Faithful Team 2 had gone home for the night as there were no signs of activity.)  When we arrived, beach visitors had seen 81 hatchlings.  6 more emerged while we were there.  We were told that about 1/3 of them got disoriented, possibly by a porch light on a nearby deck.  We appreciate the help of the beach visitors and are thankful they called us!

Nest #24 had 1 hatchling track in the runway.  We didn’t see any other signs of emergence in any other nests.

We had 2 fairly obvious False Crawls, one nesting site and Nest #89 today.  

The crawl for the nesting site had a good time discrepancy, but we just couldn’t find the eggs.  We marked it and will keep an on it.

Nest #89 was laid high and dry.  
Crawl Width:  102cm/40″

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations. 

BIG NEWS!  Caswell Beach’s Kemp’s Ridley Nest started hatching at about 9:30 this morning!!! New Volunteer Mary Beth and her cousin Mary Ann were out walking when a family alerted them to some turtle hatchlings.  IT WAS DAY 49 and had not been greened yet!  They quickly worked together with Turtle Ambassadors, the Williford family, to set up the runway and shield the turtles from the hot sun. Counting was a bit difficult, but we know there were more than 57. There were 103 eggs in the nest.  We are grateful for all the families that helped shadow the hatchlings!!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations.

It’s been a busy 24 hours!
SEE THE BIG NEWS ABOUT OUR KEMP’S RIDLEY NEST HERE!

We also had Nest #88!  Mama laid just a tiny bit over last night’s tide line.  We relocated 99 eggs, still a good sized clutch for the end of the season!

King Tides reached a few nests again last night, but those Teams did an amazing job minimizing the damage!  Great work, y’all!!

Nest #2 had one more hatchling emerge while the team was there last night.

Nest #1 has a nice low spot!  FINALLY on Day 74!

Nest #4 Inventory – Wednesday Evening
Hatched Egg Shells – 92
Unhatched Eggs- 39
Pipped –  9 
Live – 9
Dead – 0
Pieces – 2
Relocated Eggs – 142

Nest #88

Nest #4 Inventory

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Want to help? Please consider donating to our efforts to protect sea turtles at Caswell Beach Turtle Watch Donations.

There were no crawls or nest emergence overnight.  

Nests #13, #17 and #18 had some degree of overwash at last night’s high tide. It was a 5.3″, and we expect the same or slighty more for tomorrow night.

The 3 teams worked hard to prevent as much damage as they could.  Thanks to our young Super Woman helper for bringing her shovel and super powers to help us protect a nest.

Now we wait and hope for the best!

Nest #6 Inventory 8/1
Hatched Egg Shells -125
Unhatched Eggs – 4
Pipped Eggs – 4
Live Hatchlings – 3
Dead Hatchlings – 1
Few pieces

Nest #7 Inventory 7/31
Hatched Egg Shells -110
Unhatched Eggs – 11
Pipped Eggs – 0
Live Hatchlings – 4
Dead Hatchlings – 3
Lots of pieces

We had 1 False Crawl (same location as yesterday’s) and 1 Nest.  They had the same crawl width.

Nest #87 had to be relocated from just over yesterday’s King Tide line to the dune line.  Patrol had visitors Madison and L’rae watch the process.
There were 67 eggs + several spacers.
Crawl Width:  90cm/35″

Other Updates:
Nest #11 had evidence of a good emergence overnight.  Lots of hatchling tracks!
Nest #10 had it’s first emergence with 1-2 hatchling tracks.
Nest #2 had 4 more hatchling tracks and some crab activity.
Nest #5 had 1 more hatchling track.
Nest #17 had a slight overwash during yesterday evening’s King Tide.

Our Nest #4 Emergence Video on Facebook has been very popular!

Busy times are here!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

We are happy to report that Nest #2 and Nest #5 hatched at some point during the storms  last night!  Thank you to those CBTW teams who put in so many hours keeping watch.  We are sorry you missed the emergence, but glad the hatchlings finally appeared!

Nest #4 had a hatchling attacked by a crab.  

There was also a False Crawl.  Mama crawled up to and around Nest #81 and decided that spot was already occupied.  We hope she returns tonight!

The King Tides arrive Aug 1-3 and again on August 27-31.  The East End escarpment is eroding fast!  We hope Nest #50 will be OK!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Nest #4 partially boiled last night at around 8:25 pm. – early enough to see it in daylight!  The 61 hatchlings went straight to the water with the exception of 1 who made a few loops and turns along the way at the water’s edge.  It was over in less than 6 minutes!  It was a first for some new volunteers and several nest visitors!  We are glad our community had the rare opportunity to see a daylight boil! No new hatchling tracks were seen this morning.

Nest #86 was laid in a safe and high location!
Crawl Width:  90cm/35.5″

Nest #4

Nest #86

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Nest #6 hatched sometime overnight with lots of hatchling tracks going towards the ocean!

We were called last night by a Turtle Ambassador from Pinehurst, NC about a nesting mama. We arrived to see her lay, were able to check her for flipper tags and measure her carapace. Her carapace (shell) was 38 inches long and 35.8 inches wide! Getting this data is is important to turtle research. We were also happy to have another family from Long Island, NY observe the miracle. They have been coming to Caswell Beach for years and this was their first mama sighting! Our patrol marked the nest this morning! THANKS FOR THE CALL, Ambassadors!

We are happy to have 85 nests on Caswell Beach now! Bonus, we had a beautiful rainbow out there this morning!

*Last night’s pictures were taken with a Night Sight feature on the cell phones!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

We had 1 False Crawl at the East End and 1 Nest that had to be relocated from the heavy escarpment area.  There are 2 nests in that area that could be in jeopardy and we didn’t want a third.

Nest #84
95 eggs relocated to a safer location
Crawl Width:  104cm/41″

The False Crawl width was 93cm/36.5″

Nest #7 had a good number of hatchling tracks this morning.  They hatched sometime after Team 5 left for the night.  There was 1 straggler making his way down the runway when Patrol came by.  They saw him safely to the water.

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

We had no new crawls or nests this morning.

The only emergence was 1 more hatchling from Nest #3 emerged overnight.  He had very strong  flipper prints!

There was a big crowd at Nest #4 last night as a crater developed throughout the day.  The hatchlings are pipping out and getting ready for their appearance!  We had great education going on at all the nests!

Team 10 excavated and inventoried Nest #3 early this morning. There were 6 live hatchlings trapped under heavy sand and hatched eggshells.  This was a relocated nest that contained 142 eggs.  The inventoried eggs did not add up to the number relocated, but there were a lot of shredded eggshell pieces.  Thank you, Team 10!

Nest #3 Inventory:
6 Live Hatchlings
0 Dead Hatchlings
3 Pipped Eggs (the turtles broke through the eggshell, but perished before emerging completely out of the shell).
90 Hatched Eggshells
35 Unhatched Eggs 
LOTS of shredded pieces

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

We had 1 Nest, 0 False Crawls and no hatchling emergence overnight.  

Nest #83 had to be relocated from a low area that floods.  There were 130 eggs.  Some were odd shaped yolkless eggs (spacers).  One looked like a candy cane!

Nest #83
Crawl Width: 98cm/38.5″

We had our first emergence at Nest #3 last night!

CBTW Team 10 braved the thunderstorms, rain and bugs well into the evening. It is estimated that about 64 hatchlings emerged. We will continue to monitor the nest, and ask that ANY activity when a CWB Turtle Team member is not present be reported to the Caswell Beach Turtle Watch at 910-368-6323.

Both false crawls were at the East Point and both with the same crawl width.  Interestingly enough, there were a lot of deer prints around.  Maybe they scared her off?

Morning Patrol found a deceased juvenile Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle on Ft. Caswell’s beach. It was moderately decomposed, so it had been in the water a while.  Data was collected to be sent to the State and it was buried.  More and more juvenile Kemp’s are being seen in the waters off of our coast.  

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

We had 2 Nests this morning and 1 False Crawl. Both nests were laid safely. One decided to join forces with a Rescue Tube Station! Fortunately, the tube is still accessible.

There were no hatchling emergences overnight.

Nest #81
Crawl Width:  106cm/41.7″

Nest #82
Crawl Width:  95cm/37.5″

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Nest #80 had to be relocated from the East Point and there was a False Crawl nearby (could be the same Mama).  There is incredible erosion out there that has gotten worse in this last week from the tides and winds.  

Nest #80 had 134 eggs relocated to a safer location.
Crawl Width:  94cm/37″

There were 4 False Crawls total, 2 of them had long crawls!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

FACT:  Sea turtles DO see red lights.  The color and wavelength is not as disturbing to them as a white light but turtles do still respond to them.  The NCWRC guidelines state that no lights (red or otherwise) should be shined near or directly on a sea turtle mama, nest or hatchling. Avoiding use of these lights minimizes distraction and disorientation and helps them reach their intended destination quickly and successfully.

Flashlights don’t HURT sea turtles. 

FACT:  Flashlights do not physically harm sea turtles.  Sea turtles do not see well on land, they see bright and dark.  The bright white lights can distract them or scare them off.  This can cause a nesting turtle to return to the ocean without nesting or cause a hatchling to wander in the wrong direction away from the ocean.  Keeping our beaches as dark as possible is the best way we can ensure our turtles are successful in their journeys.

CAN YOU SAY WINDY?  We were sandblasted this morning on morning patrol and the nests that have runways are full of sand!  There was no way to tell if any nests had cracks or depressions.  We had to be extra vigilant in searching for crawls as the tracks were very faint and hard to see.

We had 5 False Crawls and 1 Nest.  4 of the False Crawls were similar crawl widths as the nest, so possibly the same Mama. 

Nest #79 was laid in a safe location in low dunes.  The egg we used for DNA was an interesting shape! 

Nest #79
Crawl Width:  110cm/37.5″

**Holden Beach had the first nest emergence last night for NC.  The nest was on Day 70.  Ocean Isle has a nest on Day 72 that hasn’t hatched, yet.  We may be waiting another week before we see anything on Caswell Beach!

A few of the pictures today were taken last night of a cliff created by the rough surf on the East End. There has been significant beach erosion that is making this turtle season very challenging for both the turtles and our patrols.

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

Hello Caswell Beach Turtle Friends. As we head into the busy part of turtle season, we wanted to take a moment to re-introduce ourselves and help inform our newer supporters.

Caswell Beach Turtle Watch (CBTW) is a group of Volunteers formally trained and permitted by the @NC Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), which in case you are not familiar with it is the state government agency responsible for the enforcement of North Carolina’s fishing, hunting, trapping and boating laws.

At CBTW, we work under the NCWRC State Guidelines in the protection of the Endangered and Threatened Sea Turtle Species that visit our beach and monitor the nests that are laid. We receive specific and detailed training from NCWRC experts and we also receive very specific directives about what we can and cannot do in our work protecting turtles in order to align with the guidelines.

As CBTW covers the east side of the island, we work closely with Oak Island Sea Turtle Protection Program that covers the west side of Oak Island. These two groups are the only official groups authorized by NCWRC.

We do not have any paid employees or Marine Biologists on staff. We operate purely on donated time and support from our community. Our Volunteers range from retirees, those still in the work force, empty nesters and young families still raising children.

To keep the public informed of our efforts, we share educational information when we are monitoring at the nest sites, and post regularly on our Facebook Page (drop us a hello!) and on our Website. You can also find us at the OKI Farmer’s Market and various in person events.

Our rewards are in the successes of the nests on our beach, seeing the turtle population increase over the years and the ever increasing support we gain from the public. We welcome new volunteers each year!

We appreciate the support of the Town of Caswell Beach, their employees and residents, who work hand in hand with CBTW to ensure that Caswell Beach remains a Sea Turtle Sanctuary!

**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 23ST03).

We guess the turtles decided to stay in the water because of the storms. Our volunteer teams braved the 18+ mph winds to monitor our nests and greet visitors.  We only had 1 False Crawl and it was a LONG one!

There were a lot of raindrops on the nest tops and runways, but it appears we have not had an emergence yet.  That’s probably a good thing with as rough as the ocean was last night!  NC has not yet reported any emergences at this time. 

We had 2 Nests and 1 False Crawl today.  Both nesting Mamas had the same crawl width!

Nest #77 was laid safely and VERY Deep!  Gary said it was the deepest nest he has dug and he has dug a lot of nests!  He was shoulder deep at the top of the eggs.  It was laid in a safe location.

Nest #77
Crawl Width:  84cm/33″

We received a call late last night about Nest #78.  (Mama had been in the process for over 45 minutes, so we figured we would miss it if we went out.)  It was in a safe location, but sadly onlookers walked all over the crawl and even on top of the nesting area.  

Nest #78
Crawl Width:  84cm/33:

The False Crawl Mama walked around just above the high tide line and returned to the ocean.

We had two Nests and 1 False Crawl today.  The False Crawl width was just 1 cm difference from Nest #75, so it was most likely the same turtle.

Nest #75 was laid in a sloughing dune that had collapsed after the Mama left.  105 eggs were relocated to a safer area.

Nest #75

Crawl Width:  101cm/37.5″

Nest #76 was laid low at the high tide line.  105 eggs were relocated up to the dune area.  A visiting family enjoyed watching the process!

Nest #76
Crawl Width:  93cm/36.5″

According to seaturtle.org, NC has not had an emergence yet.  NC’s first nest was laid at Cape Lookout on May 6th!  We may be waiting another week or so!

We had 3 fairly obvious False Crawls and 1  Nest today.  The deer had a party at the East End.  The nest was laid above the high tide line in a popular area.  It sure is going to be interesting when we receive the DNA on these Mamas!

Nest #74
Crawl Width:  104cm/41″