Can I even begin to tell you how much I am NOT a morning person?!  It's not that I cannot appreciate a stunning sunrise, but a sunset is so much easier for me to enjoy, seeing as I've probably been conscious for over 10 hours at that point.  Until now that is.  With the crisp Fall air, the rustle of leaves in the morning breeze, the sweet smell of dry corn on the morning mist, fresh picked apples on the kitchen table, kids in their cute little plaid skirts and long white socks and mary janes.........OH wait...wrong state.  I'm in flip flop country!

I begrudgingly fell out of bed this morning at 5:45, which is after the bedside alarm went off, but seconds before the loud and annoying alarm I use on my cellphone as back up went off.  I swear I heard my sleep number bed say, "what? Where are you GOING?  Is the house on fire?  Take me with you!"

No, the house wasn't on fire.  It's the first day of school.  I joyous time in thousands of households across the state.  (Unless you are a resident of the county next door, then you've been at this for two weeks already !)  Yes, that day were the smell of peanut butter sandwiches on fresh white bread pervades the house, new crayons, new pencils, where new clothes, fresh haircuts, and eager and sleepy faces greet the flash bulbs before the great yellow beast pulls up the haul them away for 8 hours. 

I'm lucky enough to have an older child.  Not old enough to let him drive to campus, but old enough that he can get himself up, dressed, and fed.  My job?  To make sure he's wearing pants, is somewhat colour coordinated, and has his book bag.  I also walk him to the bus stop.  It's a long walk, and even this time of year it was dark, the sun barely above the horizon.  The birds weren't even awake.  Heaven knows I'm not.  I do know he got onto a large yellow vehicle, I'm pretty sure it was the school bus, as our trash truck is blue.  It did have blinky lights, so it COULD have been a yellow UFO. Anyway, I think about my friends this morning.  Two have sent their kiddos off to college for their freshman year, one is either weepy at sending off that kindergarten bus, or is breaking out the champagne - I'll find out later.

What on Earth does this have to do with the beach?  Not much.  It's just one of those monumental days of the year.  There is a little known tradition on Navarre Beach.  The first day of school brings out the mommy brigade!  We come down in the morning with a fresh cup of heaven and just sit and watch the waves and enjoy the quiet.  The kids aren't there screaming.  The tourists have left, until the snowbird migration,  and we look forward to cooler weather and our beach. (Don't get us wrong, we LOVE our tourists! It's just a transitional break back to normality and a much slower pace for us.) Much slower and we'll be going backwards!  Sigh. 

Unless you are me, and then you are looking ahead to the peak of hurricane season.  Danielle is ramping up in the Atlantic as we speak. As of this point she is still PROJECTED to say out to sea.  A quick vacay in Bermuda may be a poor choice this weekend, but as of RIGHT now she has not set her sights on either US or the Eastern US coast.  We all know that can change.  And we all know how fast things can pop up in our own backyard this time of year.  The PEAK of the season is still three weeks away.

I see on the web camera that the BP crews are out today WEST of the pier.  Good to see them out there in the daylight again.  Today has another heat advisory stuck to it.  OC in this heat and humidity, everything sticks to everything.  We're looking at another day with a heat index of over 105!  So take care of yourself.

The surf looks pleasant for the day, the chance of rain the whole week is low.  (YAY, for our landscaper.)  Our turtles are still brewing under the warm sand.  I've had no reports of tar balls, except the occasional ones that pops up from surf.  Crossing fingers.  OH, remember the log book stop at the firehouse is no longer needed.  Just email your hours to me at the surfnavarrebeach@gmail.com link and let me know when, where, and how long you were out.  I'll email everyone the day before I send in the report to the county as a reminder in case you forgot to report some hours.

Here's a little shot of an amazing sunset from the other night.  I hope you got to see it in person, the very AIR was yellow, then orange, then FIREY PINK.  It was great.

So with that, I'm heading out with my cold bottle of water and join the other mommies on the sand.  Or maybe I'll drag out the fishing rod.....or maybe...YAWWWWN......would a nap be out of the question?

The BIG Move

Well here they go.  Tonight we, Florida Fish and Wildlife- The Turtle Patrol- a DEP member- and I, moved two of our turtle nests.  The Kemps Ridley at 12, and the Leatherback at 4.  They were carefully recorded, dug up, and extremely carefully packed.  The coolers hold a thick layer of sand, no more than 60 eggs, and then more sand and a temperature probe.  The coolers are then closed and placed in a specially designed holder that keeps them elastically suspended.  These nests and others from GulfBreeze, with be put on a specially designed FedEx truck, climate controlled, special suspension, the works, and driven to the hatching facility in Cape Canaveral and then will be released.

I was at the nest on WO 12.  Sadly the FFW people do not give this nest a high probability of hatching.  While it was HIGH at the top of a dune, which protected it from the surf, it was in the vegetation.  Sadly, it's our precious sea oats that are a problem.  The root system that protects the dune, sucks so much moisture from the sand that it also effects the eggs.  Instead of being white and full round with turtles near to hatching, they were sand toned, and soft like a newly hatched eggs.  FFW will continue to incubate the eggs to the 70 incubation date.  Those that don't hatch will be examined for a reason. It is possible that the eggs were laid, but not fertilized.  Circle of life.

As soon as I get some kind of word from those down at WO 4 on that nest's condition, I'll pass that on.  I heard they did have quite the crowd of on-lookers as that is a very busy part of the beach! Well enjoy the photos and the video !

Notice the egg in the cooler.

The hole was only about a foot deep.

Toodle Loo our Turtles!

The summer has flown by and the first of our turtle nest to be laid, are close to hatching time.  The news came to me this morning, that to increase the survival rate, and decrease exposure, our turtle nests will indeed be moved.

The Kemps Ridley Turtles at Walk Over 4 and 12 will be the first to be dug up, carefully packed, and shipped to the East coast of Florida, where they will be hatched, and then released.

We don't know exactly HOW turtle hatchlings imprint on their home beach, so it is unknown if these hatching will call the Emerald Coast home or the Space Coast home.  10 or 15 years will tell the tale.

In the meantime, we will continue to support those that are doing what they think is best for the continuing survival of these fantastic reptiles.  We wish you well little guys and hope to see you again.

for more on sea turtles visit : http://www.nps.gov/pais/naturescience/stsr-index.htm

I know, I said I was going to cut back.

But it's just too much fun.

Golly Gee Willikers did it rain this morning?  Talk about tropical rainfall!  I wonder if when it's raining THAT hard, when a dolphin comes up for air, do they choke a little.  I'm sure not, but it's something to ponder.  I mean, when access to your lungs is on the top of your head and it's raining.....hmmmmmm.

Anyway, since our downpour, the skies are clearing up.  There remains the chance for showers and thunder all day, again.  Of course the heat and humidity will be ever present as well.  And again the atmosphere is ripe for waterspouts.  So if you go out, keep your eyes open.

The entire weekend is setting up to be a carbon copy of today.  I hope many of you choose to schedule yourself some time on the beach.  The breeze is actually making it tolerable down there. And don't forget to say HI to the AmeriCorps Volunteers.

The beach is lovely.  The June Grass continues and has moved into the swim zone.  There are some clear areas out there, but for the most part, where there is JGrass, it's heavy.

The concrete kill of the well head is so far so good.  Let's continue to keep our fingers crossed for the effort and for the continued fair weather in the GOM so they can keep working.  We have been SO lucky so far on that front, it makes me want to go out and buy a lottery ticket !  They expect the relief well to be finished sometime next week. 

Snatched from the Santa Rosa Site- Turtle nest information

Turtle nesting from 6/22 (day 45 of 60 day incubation) Three turtle nests including a rare Kemps Ridley nest

Turtle nesting from 7/03 (day 32 of 60 day incubation)

Turtle nesting at P2 7/16 (day20 of 60 day incubation)

I was able to take advantage of yesterday evening's cooler temps.  The heat index was only 103', so I took the boy out fishing on the Pier.  King Mackerels are still hot for the lines.  The pompano are starting to make a better show.  The bait fishing was slow the first hour, but really picked up the second and third.  We pulled in over 25 LARGE hardtail, over 10 inches nose to notch, and 5 12 inch plus ladyfish.   The guy next to us, only halfway down the pier, was shark fishing.  Again, that warm fuzzy feeling.  Yes, I know they're OUT there, but I don't want to KNOW they're out there! LOL!  I think I've watched too much SharkWeek this week.  Do you think bull sharks can come up the shower drain? hmmmmm.........

I'd like to wave to our imaginary friend that's logged in from furthest away so far, HELLO SOUTH AFRICA !

Ladyfish

On that note, I'm going to pop off line to vacuum, dust, and do the laundry.  See?  I'm NOT at the beach all the time! Have a wonderful weekend, stop by the firehouse and sign up for a couple of shifts, stay safe and have fun!

Monday Monday

It's going to be another hot and humid day down on the beach with Heat Indexes of well over 100.  There is also a good chance for thunderstorms today.  If you hear thunder, or see lightning, please come in off the beach.

We now have plenty of informational binders available for reading.  (We only had one ready at training to show.)  Please feel free to pick one up for reading or carrying with you on your beach walks.  They are on the SURF table at the firehouse.

The AmeriCorp group( http://www.americorps.gov/for_individuals/choose/state_national.asp ) will be joining us down at the beach this week.  They are here from all over the country to work along side us, not for us.  They are here as their own group with their own informational programs and services about the beach and the BP spill.  As it stands now, it sounds like they will have a home base station near the Pier.  Stop by and meet them and see what they have brought to support our beach and it's guests.

The turtles have been busy and I hope to get a turtle nest report soon.  I have heard many people comment on the moving of the eggs, and they wonder WHY we (those in charge of the turtle eggs)  are waiting SO long to do it.  "Move them, move them now, before the oil kills them." You just can't move a reptile egg.  They are extremely fragile.  They must remain in the same orientation as they are laid in the nest.  If an egg is tipped or turned from "UP", the embryo can actually drown in the egg.  SO, with the incubation period of a sea turtle being 50-60 days, and our beach spotters knowing which nest was laid when, they are waiting until the LAST possible day to move the eggs to ensure the highest number of viable hatchlings.  Also, since the way the hatchings imprints on the beach it was laid at is not really understood, they are hoping to leave them in their native sand as long as possible.  IF they have to move them at all.  Time will tell. 

Just added to the useful links to the left, DEP Daily Report, the Quick link to Santa Rosa County reports, and the Daily Air Report.

And with that, I'll let you go out and enjoy your Monday.  Have fun, and be safe.