And a little moonlight shall lead the way......

TURTLES TURTLES AND MORE TURTLES !

 For those of you that missed the great hatching of our show off, fancy pants loggerhead turtle nest ( this was the turtle that came ashore in the day to lay eggs, with a great audience, at the bottom of the BUSIEST WalkOver Ramp on the beach - she's a show stealer), which I'm guess was MOST of you.  I bring to you the following photos and video.  This is the Loggerhead Sea Turtle Nest that was at Navarre Beach, WalkOver 3, the handicap ramp in the main parking lot.  This nest was laid, oddly enough, in the day time instead of night, on July 3rd.

Setting up for the LONG wait.

Hard to see but the depression is forming in the center of the staked area.

The nest was showing signs of activity and scratching at around 6:55 pm, movement was noted at 7:10, and again at 7:14, and 7:19. At 7:23 the first major movement was made, and at 7:35, just after sun down, WHOOSH!, 24 little hatchling burst forth and strode off to the sea.

The marine science students had dug and smoothed us a lovely pathway for the critters trip.  Which made the journey much quicker, as those little legs didn't have to dodge footprints.  We only had three turtles get confused as to their direction, due to the brighter lights from the local condos, but human bodies did a great job blocking that light for our little travelers.  24 made the journey this go around. ( loggerheads lay anywhere from 80-120 eggs, only 1 in 1000 eggs will make it back to lay eggs on the home beach, and it takes 25 to 30 years for a turtle to reach maturity)

The nest had sounds of further movement, but then went quiet again. We think it is done for the night, but will be "caged" for the night and checked repeatedly for more hatchlings all night long.  If not tonight, maybe more tomorrow.  IF you come to a turtle hatching, PLEASE PLEASE NO BRIGHT LIGHTS. This confuses the hatchlings and they waste energy walking the wrong direction.  It also messes up our night vision.  This includes all flash photography, glo sticks, and CELL PHONES.  (Photos on this site were taken in daylight, or with flash with NO TURTLES present.  Video was taken with red light, which goes unseen/noticed by turtles.)  Thank you.  We also need you to be very quiet, and limit your movement.  The hatchlings can feel the vibrations in the sand from over 50 feet away, and think it's a predator and will not come out.  It also makes it very difficult for us to hear the hatchlings beneath the sand.  We may set a perimeter of 50 feet from the nest for further viewing for the safety of the turtles, so be prepared for that.  We thank you for all of your consideration. 

And at the end of the run, we were left with this. So cute.

Now with that said, I'm going to hit the shower and wash off all this sand.

Now for your viewing pleasure, taken by me, a late night sea side video.While my camera takes great video, the sound stinks, so turn off your sound, and hum the music from 2001 a Space Odessy......Prepare to say Awwwwwwwwww

The video runs for about 5 minutes, but there's nothing to see past about 3.45

CLICK FOR VIDEO >>>   Sea Turtles Hatching

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.