Lots of excitement overnight and this morning!
Nest #8 hatched at about 9:50 with 96 hatchlings and some very helpful residents! We have some new Turtle Ambassadors! 2 more hatchlings emerged at some point later.
Nest #14 had 4 more hatchlings emerge after 9:40 last night with more helpful visitors!
*Pebble Beach Patrol found lots of hatchling tracks today! They came from behind an area that was previously marked as a false crawl. Mama had crawled over a log into Marsh grass. When a “Wild” nest is found, an immediate excavation is completed. We are calling this Nest #89.
- Live Hatchlings-16
- Dead Hatchlings-2 (one was used for DNA testing)
- Unhatched Eggs-77 (The nest cavity was very wet at the bottom which made it difficult for the lower eggs to develop. 16 plump white eggs were relocated because of possible viability)
- Hatched Egg Shells-42
We had Nest #88 on the East End that had to be moved. 74 eggs were relocated to a safer location. There were also 2 false crawls!
**This conservation work for protected sea turtles on Caswell Beach is authorized by the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (ES Permit 22ST03).
