I'm so excited! Turtle season has officially started, the turtles are finally coming in to nest, and I have gotten to stake a nest. On Sunday I went out to the West end of Sanibel on the Gator vehicle. It was another beautiful morning, a bit on the cool side, but beautiful none the less. After loading the gator with supplies we drove down to Tarpon Bay road where we entered the beach. The sun was barely above the horizon but people were already setting up for the day, fishing and shell collecting. Riding a vehicle on the beach is a whole new experience. Parts of the beach are eroding and little shore birds are also nesting. You must drive, look for tracks, avoid large holes dug by enthusiastic children, miss little chicks and eggs, look for trash and not hit any tourists with the gator. Kelly, the turtle rescue coordinator, and I shared the responsibility. We were both excited and hopeful that we would at least spot a false crawl, but no luck.
Today we went out on the East end. Several more false crawls had been reported on Monday and Tuesday, a nest was also laid, so we expected to hear from the walkers on the East end that there had been some activity. By 7 in the morning the calls from the beach walkers started to come in. Zone 6 had a nest!! Off we went, this time in a regular car to exam it and stake it.
Looking at this section of beach, the first thing you notice is the gentle escarpment up from the tide line.
It was sloped enough that this momma turtle had no problem climbing up about two feet to lay her nest on higher ground. This was a good spot because only the highest storm tide will threaten this nest.
Kelly asked me which direction the tracks indicated where the turtle had entered and left the nesting site. Of course I had it backwards. It's important to know direction so that you can estimate where the egg chamber is located. You don't want to accidentally place a stake in the egg chamber.
France was the walker who discovered the crawl. Kelly asked her to estimate where the egg chamber was located based on the signs left by the nesting turtle. It was interesting to discover that the chamber was actually not in what appeared as the deepest part of the body pit the turtle had dug. Rather it was to the right and back in an area she had spent time flipping sand onto.
We don't verify the egg chamber by probing for fear of damaging it, so a good estimate is essential when it comes time to excavate a nest after hatching or in case of a failure to hatch. You can dig a long time in the wrong spot.
We then laid out the stakes, marked the location, gathered relevant data to be recorded and taped the nest.
It was a great morning and I look forward to the rest of the season and the surprises, challenges, and adventures to come.
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