Oh my goodness, what a day! 2 nests, 6 false crawls and 2 turtle rescues.
Nest #35, 33” crawl, marker 76.8, and Nest #36, 36” crawl, marker 66.5
6 False crawls
35” @ 74.8
34” @73.3
36” @ 69.9
34” @ 64.8
35” @ 59.5
35” @54.5
Most of these false crawls were in and out, but one turtle dug a hole and left no eggs.
We had a stranded female turtle near marker 65. Took off to transport to Beasley Sea Turtle hospital but Sarah Finn called and said she would help. We transferred the turtle to her in Wilmington. Got back to the beach and received a call from Matthew Godfrey about a stranded turtle on the river in Southport. Folks building a dock saw him and realized he was having trouble so they pulled him to the edge of the water and laid his head on a board until we got there. Loaded up and off again to the turtle hospital. He wasn’t doing as good as the first turtle but was still alive when we got him there. They started an IV on each side, moistened his eyes, gave him antibiotics and looked like he was perking up before we left. One of the volunteers took us on a tour of the facility and Ms Beasley did thank us and talked about how important our job as a volunteer is to this turtle. He was the one in a thousand that made it 40 years ago so that we can sit and watch a nest tonight. Pretty thought provoking. The first turtle was an adult female. Sarah took her to Morehead City to the vet who verified that she was female but did not have eggs. She was then transported to the Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital.