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The Season is over...see you on the beach next spring
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Last three nests hatch and are inventoried
Check back again for the season's final stats..........I'm waiting for Mary to get them to me.
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Jammin' for Jammer 2 a huge success
On Sept 25th the Turtle Team hosted a party to raise money for the Sea Turtle Rescue Program at the South Carolina Aquarium. Over the next few years the Aquarium will be raising money for a new turtle hospital. Jammin' was a huge success. Over 250 people attended a fun party at an island icon,The Windjammer.
All the island restaurants donated fantastic food. We had over 145 items donated for a silent auction. Three bands donated their services. The turtle team pulled together to get the night organized and then took time out to enjoy the evening. When all is tallied our donation this year to the Turtle Hospital will be a bit over $15,000. We are already planning for next year!!!
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Three inventories....one missing nest!
Three inventories in one morning. One was from a "wild" nest that was missed by our beach patrol, one was about average and had one live little hatchling, but one .....we couldn't find. There were no eggs or egg shells found. We relocated this nest and we know exactly where the eggs were located. Even with shovels we never found anything. So evidently Folly Beach was not the only beach to have a nest stolen.
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We are about 2/3s done with the 67 nests laid this year.
The three sand fence nests on the 18th Links fairway did well. Here are the final results.
Nest #41 (Arlene & Sue's) with 122 relocated eggs relocated from Shipwatch - 89.3% hatch success with 7 live hatchlings released from the nest.
Nest #42 (Arlene & Sue's) in situ nest laid right there - 94% hatch success with 5 live hatchlings released.
Nest #43 (Ann & Janie's) relocated from Dunecrest Lane with 100 eggs - 84% hatch success with 5 hatchlings released.
A few of the hatchlings had severe "birth defects" with contorted shells and front flippers that did not work well. One was very small, much smaller than the others. But this is usually the case with the ones that cannot make it out of the nest on their own. When they got into the surf on the outgoing tide, they perked up and started swimming. So at least they were given a chance at survival.
Now all the turtles from the Wild Dunes nests are finished and safely out to sea. Many thanks to all who helped by finding and checking on these nests and to Jeff Minton, Links Course Director for allowing us access to them from the golf course.
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Two successful inventories at 26th Ave.
Nest #30 found by Deborah Johnson on June 20th ended with an 88.2% hatch success with 4 live hatchlings which crawled into the water. Deborah carried them a little closer to the water for release.
Nest #33 found by Dan and Doreen Tylak on June 21st had a 90.2% hatch success with 2 live hatchlings released. This nest had one egg that was completely impaled by a root growing through it. Jeff and Elizabeth Force released these two. Jeff has saved hundreds of hatchlings from disorientation and death by standing in the water with his lantern to guide them and was awarded the "Moon Man" award at the 2011 Turtle Team party.
The sand at both of these nests was so dry on the surface that it kept falling into the egg chamber making excavating very hard. We had to make a barrier to keep it from filling as we dug!
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Two early morning inventories
There were no live hatchlings left in Nest #26 at 41st Avenue this morning, but the hatch success was 90% with only 11 undeveloped eggs. At Nest #6 on Sullivan's Island there were 5 live hatchlings who were apparently caught and damaged by small roots from dune plants growing into the nest There were also 11 undeveloped eggs here to give us a 91.1% hatch success.
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Lots of inventories..some good, some bad and some WET!
We waited at the lighthouse path until the rain stopped at 7:20 this morning and then went out. It was a beautiful inventory - 11 little hatchlings and a break in the rain with a 92% hatch rate.
Here are the percentages for our recent invetories:
Sullivan's Island Nest #4 at Sand Dunes Lane - 88.1%
IOP #18 at 30th Ave - 37%
IOP #19 at 28th Ave - 58.8%
IOP #20 at 28th Ave - 97.9%
IOP #22 at 28th Ave - 84.7%
IOP #24 at 26th Ave - 87.3%
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They just keep on coming...nest #67 on the IOP
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Small nest on Sullivans inventoried
This was a small nest with 79 eggs found on June 2 by Sally Jacob and Jo Durham.. There were 8 eggs that never developed while 70 emerged and made their way to the ocean. Unfortunately, there were no live hatchlings to be released from the inventory but the success rate for this nest was about 86%.
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"Wild Nest" inventoried at 25th Ave.
We were rather disappointed in the outcome of the Wild Nest at 25th Avenue. Only 37.6% hatched, 2 dead in the nest, one live in the nest and 44 empty shells. We can't help but think this nest suffered because no one reported it and we did not relocate it higher on the beach. Most of these eggs appeared to have had the embryos die early in development, perhaps from tidal washovers. We just hope the genetics samples we collected are viable.
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Three inventories plus yet another nest in Wild Dunes.
The three nests at 32nd were inventoried this morning in front of a large crowd with the following results: Nest #15 (Mary Frazier's) 87.3% hatch success with 2 live hatchlings still in the nest. Nest #16 (also Mary Frazier's) 76.6% hatch success with 4 live hatchlings still in the nest. Nest #17 (Tom, Sandi, and Cara Brown's) 81.1% hatch success with 19 live hatchlings in the nest.
Last hatchling for our new friend Staci (no sea turtles in Arizona)
Staci is an artist and be sure and look for the turtle art she is donating for our end of season party and Jammin for Jammer 2
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Then we got a call from Patti Horton that a turtle had nested at
Ocean Club (yet again there). We found 84 eggs in the nest, some with
extra strands of calcium attached to the shell. This sometimes occurs
near the end of the season and we are not sure of the reason. These
eggs were taken to the dune with yesterday's nest just south of 25th
Avenue for incubation.
=========================================================================================================== Inventories, Wild Nest, New Nest and Mystery Hatchling. An interesting morning on the beach. First Stop Beachside for an inventory CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
The inventory of Nest #14 at Beachside near the pier found by Staci
Sarkowski, Glenn and Grace Rhodes, and Kathey O'Connor revealed an
amazingly large nest of 155 eggs and only one unhatched egg. This
computed as a 98.7% hatch success because one other egg was used for
genetics research.
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Then on to Sullivan's for an inventory CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos>
Nest #1 on Sullivan's Island found by Kristin Zeasor-Sydow and Karen
Britton was also very large with 146 eggs. Inventory results were 11
unhatched and 10 live hatchlings in the nest resulting in an 87% hatch success.
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Then back to the IOP and a nest in Wild Dunes moved near the "Wild Nest"found this morning. CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
Kendall Koste and Gail Cyzman found their very first tracks at Port
O'Call Condominiums in Wild Dunes. This turtle got mired in the
wrackline, leaving one broken egg on the surface and laying 112 eggs.
They were moved to a nice dune just south of 25th Avenue.
Kerrie Scott found what is called a "Wild Nest" between 24th and 25th
Avenues. This means it was a nest that was not reported when it was
laid and was not put on our list. There were empty loggerhead shells
strewn on the beach and lots of small dog paw prints. We believe that
the hatchlings came out of the sand because there were a few tracks
and one live hatchling on the dune nearby. So a sign was put there to
mark the egg chamber.
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Successful inventory and uncoming inventories.
The two nests at 1st Avenue did quite well. Blowing dry sand had made
it hard to see any tracks in the morning, so we weren't sure if they
had all come out 4 days ago.
Nest #9 closest to the path had 14 unhatched and no live ones in the
nest for an 88% hatch success.
Nest #10 had 11 unhatched and one live one in the nest for an 85%
hatch success. MONDAY - Beachside @7:00 (in situ) and then Sand Dunes Club on SI @ 7:20 or 7:30 TUESDAY - 3 nests at 32nd Ave. path @7:00 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Interesting night on the islands. The full spectrum of turtle action. Photos Taken With Infrared Camera. NO LIGHTS OR FLASH USED
Again, when we thought our turtles had finished laying eggs, we had two more nests last night. Nancy Evans found tracks at the base of the new dune at the 18th green. Looks like the golf course loggerhead who false crawled 2 nights ago came back. She crawled to the top of the dune and then came down to dig her egg chamber at the base. Sgt. Derrick Ambas called Barb Bergwerf to come see her, and several Turtle Team members watched her lay and cover up the nest. Unfortunately Allyson Lutz was out of the country and missed this one. She and Nancy had been hoping for a nest before the season ended. These 92 eggs were relocated near yesterday's nest between 25th and 26th Avenues. Jennifer Snyder also found tracks near 51st Avenue. Sgt. Ambas also saw this turtle shortly after the first one, so he again called Barb about this one. This loggerhead laid her eggs under the edge of a dune bush and then tried to crawl farther into it when covering up. 125 eggs were in the nest and were taken to the same location as the previous nest to incubate. CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ New nests, inventories and an interesting false crawl
The nest in front of SIES found by Kathy Bonaca, Aussie Geer, and Jo
Durham had an 87% hatch success in spite of large roots that had
grown into the egg chamber. There were 128 empty eggshells, 18
undeveloped eggs, 1 dead hatchling, and 9 lives ones who were
released by Kathy and Aussie to crawl into the ocean.
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The "Army Wives" house nest at 502 Ocean Blvd. had turtles come out
on their own with no one in attendance on July 23rd. It was a small
nest with only 76 eggs laid. We found 65 empty shells, 11 undeveloped
eggs, and 12 live hatchlings who were released by Franny Russell.
Final hatch success was 84.4%.
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As we walked out to inventory Nest #3 near 7th Avenue, we saw that a
female loggerhead had laid eggs near the 7th Avenue path. This seemed
to be a turtle who had not nested here this season. She had part of
her left rear flipper missing and there was no claw mark. She also
left one open egg chamber, but succeeded in digging another one below
the spring tide line. Her chamber went sideways, probably because of
the missing part of her flipper. She laid 82 eggs which were
relocated to 26th Avenue for incubation. This is Nest #55 for IOP and
#61 for the Turtle Team.
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Just when we thought that nesting might be finished, a loggerhead
crawled onto the newly nourished dune along the 18th Fairway last
night. Billie McRae reported tracks that went all the way to the peak
of the dune. However, we did not find a body pit, and it looked as if
she crawled back down the steep dune very soon and swam away because
the outgoing and incoming tracks showed that she didn't stay long, ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ This morning's inventories very successful
We were pleased to find that Nest #6 at 51st Avenue had a 90% hatch
success and we were able to release 13 live turtles into the ocean.
There were some enormous sea oat roots that had grown into the
undeveloped eggs here.
At Ocean Point the nests along the sand fencing were successful as
well. Nest #12 had a 90.9% hatch success with 8 live ones in the
nest, and Nest #13 was 91.4% successful with 7 more live ones released.
Some of our earlier nests were only in the 60% range for hatching, so
this was nice to find. CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 Inventories on Wed at 7AM
This Wednesday we will have inventories at two locations. The first will be at the nest at 51st Ave. and then we will go up to Wild Dunes to inventory two nests at the 18th fairway.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Nest #60 for the Turtle Team
Emily Dziuban, Amy Lee and Bill Schupp reported tracks at Mariner's Walk in
Wild Dunes this morning. This is Nest #54 for the Isle of Palms and
including the Sullivan's Island nests, the total for the Turtle Team
is now 60, more than we've ever had in a season!
It was a small clutch of only 59 eggs which might mean that this is
the final nest for this female loggerhead who had an average size
track. Since the beach here is very flat with coarse, shelly sand
after the 2008 nourishment project, we relocated the eggs to the 4th
Avenue Path.
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______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Nest #2 at 29th Inventoried this Morning
Nest #2 found by Staci Sarkowski was inventoried this morning. This
was the nest that was laid in the pedestrian beach path of a rental
house. We found that sea oats roots had invaded the nest and grown
into several eggs that did not develop. We don't know if they would
have been OK without the roots or if they failed before the roots
grew into them. We found 71 empty shells, 35 undeveloped eggs, and
three live hatchlings for a 66.3% hatch success. CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
We named the
hatchlings Gracie, McRae, and Aubrey after Staci and Chris
Sarkowski's triplet girls who helped release them to crawl to the ocean.
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__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Nests at 7th and at 18th Fairway Hatch
These nests were not being watched since they were technically not due yet. But none the less they emerged sometime last night or early this morning. We will be having an inventory at 29th ave. on Sunday 7:30am. Then on Monday we will start at 7th Ave. at 7:00am and then move on to Wild Dunes for a second inventory.
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The loggerhead who made a false crawl at the north side of the Ocean
Club boardwalk the night before evidently returned last night and
laid eggs just south of the same boardwalk. Jimmie Frances Gurley
discovered tracks there and we found 121 eggs this morning. They were
moved to a good dune just south of the 27th Avenue Path to incubate.
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__________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Busy Morning with an Inventory and Nest #58
Busy times indeed. We started with the Inventory at 56th Avenue. Only
one live turtle was in the nest to be released. There were 95 empty
shells from successful hatchlings and 54 that did not develop with 2
dead hatchlings. This gives it a 63.3% hatch success.
Meanwhile at the Access Path near the Property Owners' Beach House for Wild Dunes, Cindy Bergstrom and Patti Horton had found tracks with a typical body pit. There were 99 eggs here that were relocated to 26th Avenue since we had already lost a nest that was right there and even higher on a dune. This one
was definitely in the washover zone for high tides.
Cindy and Patti also found tracks at the Ocean Club Villas boardwalk
at the Links Course 18th green in Wild Dunes. This turtle had climbed
up to the crest of the newly renourished dune and turned around
without digging a nest. It was interesting that all three of this
morning's tracks were exactly the same size between rear flipper claw
marks. So we are not sure if the same turtle tried 3 times before
succeeding or if there is another turtle the same size out there who
may return again tonight?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Two nests on IOP on the 16th Nests # 56 and #57 breaking our all time record
Eugenia Dowdeswell reported two sets of loggerhead tracks, both with
nesting body pits in Wild Dunes this morning. The first was on the
beach at 6 Dunecrest Lane where the turtle looped around onto and off
of the low scarped dunes several times before finally laying 105
eggs. She did not dig a deep enough egg chamber, and the eggs
overflowed so that she broke two of them when covering the nest. We
used these for genetics research samples.
The second nest was near 55th Avenue on a flat washover section of
beach. This nest contained 103 eggs.
Both were taken to a dune just south of the 26A/27th Avenue path for
relocation. This makes 57 Nests for the Turtle Team and breaks our
record of 56 from 2005. Hooray!
Two nests on IOP this morning Nests # 54 and #55 were moved to 3rd Ave. for safety The Team now has 55 nests with IOP Nests #48 and #49 laid this morning. Tom and Sandi Brown reported tracks at 50th Avenue, but the body pit was below the spring tide line on the flat washover area of the beach. So these 80 eggs were relocated to 3rd Avenue next to Nest #49 which was found by Anne Royall and Cheryl Burns in Breach Inlet. This was their 4th Saturday morning nest in 2012. The nest in Breach Inlet would surely have washed away before hatching, so these 106 eggs were also relocated to the 3rd Avenue Path. The nest contained one tiny egg with no yolk and one odd shaped egg with a very thin abnormal shell that was used for our genetics sample. Just as we were finishing setting the signs on these two new nests, the sky opened up with a brief shower to soak us.
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______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ #1 Hatches on IOP After 69 days the nest at 56th Ave. finally emerges All night time photographs are taken with an infrared camera...no flash or lights were used. Last night at Nest #1 located at 56th Avenue the sand began to crack at about 9 pm and by 10:30 eighty-three hatchlings boiled out. The western sky over the Charleston area was bright and no moon was up. The house lights were all dark, but the ambient skyglow was a real problem. So they had to have help making it to the ocean. The inventory at 56th Avenue will be at 7:15 sharp on Tuesday morning.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ #53 for IOP After a heavy rain storm it was hard for the turtle team to find the nest During the night we had heavy rain around 3-4 am on the Isle of
Palms. A loggerhead nested at 3rd Avenue below the spring tide line,
but her tracks and body pit were almost obscured by the downpour.
Dave Sowers and Joe Hager were on patrol and had help from island
resident, Jack Owens, in spotting the very faint signs there. The
Turtle Team also had trouble locating the eggs in an elongated body
pit. Unfortunately buried spartina wrack seemed to have punctured
almost a dozen of the eggs at the bottom of the egg chamber. Out of
the 118 eggs laid, 12 were found to be broken. It was good that we
relocated this one higher on the dune there because the broken eggs
could have caused bacteria to build up in the nest. The contents from
the broken ones were washed off of the unbroken eggs and 112 were
reburied in a safer place just north of the 3rd Avenue Path.
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________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ #52 Almost in the sandtrap A few more feet and his girl could have been in the sandtrap in Wild Dunes This morning Jimmie Frances Gurley called in a report of tracks at
the 18th green of the Links Course. This loggerhead crawled up onto
the newly nourished dune, broke quite a few sea oats, and made her
nest just a few feet from the sand trap there. The sand on this dune
is still very soft and spongy, so that our probe sticks went in to
the hilt with no resistance. This made us avoid probing, and we used
our hands to dig in the most likely place where the eggs were soon
found. We know that the full moon tide recently breached this dune
and with September storms possible before it hatches, we made the
decision to move the nest to 29th Avenue, 2 doors north of the path.
This was one of the largest turtles we've had with 24-25 inches
between rear flipper claw marks, but she only laid 63 eggs with one
egg being about half sized with no yolk. CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ #51 and counting...... Rookie turtle team member has her first nest. Gina McQuilken was very excited to find her first nest after joining the team this season. The turtle laid 97 eggs at the base of the primary dune between 29th and 30th Avenues. If she had just climbed up onto the dune, we could have left the nest where it was laid. But with hurricane season approaching, we decided to put it a little higher and a little closer to 30th Avenue. Congratulations, Gina!
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______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ #50 Says it all! 50 Nests for the turtle team with about 5 weeks of nesting to go Now we have a total of 50 nests including the ones on Sullivan's.
Susan Daley found tracks near the POBH in front of Beach Club Villas
in Wild Dunes this morning. Although the body pit was up on a dune,
we know that this area is very unstable after losing a nest to
erosion almost at the same place. So we decided to move it to 29th
Avenue to insure that it doesn't wash away as Nest #11 did. There
were 129 eggs laid, but two were broken down in the nest, perhaps by
sharp sticks that were buried in the sand. These were used for the
genetics research study. CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A Double Triple Friday Nests #41 #42 & #43 for IOP (#49 total for the turtle team) Just when we thought things were starting to slow down, we had 6
different sets of tracks between Dunecrest Lane and Ocean Point
during the night. Arlene Southerland and Sue Widhalm were covering
the north end and reported loggerhead tracks at Shipwatch, Summer
Dunes Lane, Seascape, and two more along the 18th fairway of the
Links Course. We started by finding 132 eggs at Shipwatch. The tracks
at Summer Dunes Lane and Seascape turned around in the damp sand
below the high tide wrack line with no eggs laid, but there was a
nest laid in a perfect spot behind one of the sand fences at the
point along the 18th fairway. So we relocated the Shipwatch eggs next
to the in situ nest at the sand fence. Then we investigated a long
crawl which went into the thick wrack farther into Ocean Point &
Dewees Inlet. We determined this to also be a false crawl. It was
interesting that all 3 of these false crawls had the same measurement
as the nest we left by the sand fencing, but so many loggerhead
females are the same size. Who knows? Meanwhile Ann Sherrill and Janie Fleming were waiting and waiting for
us to finish with the other 5 sets of tracks and nests before we
could go back down to Dunecrest Lane where they had found tracks.
This turtle laid 100 eggs, but they were up against a small scarped
dune and well seaward of the spring tide line which had swept
spartina wrack toward the houses there. Since we also needed to move
this nest to safety, it was decided to put them along the 18th
fairway sand fencing as well. We were very proud of Janie and Ann who
said this was their very first nest after many false crawls over the
years they've been on the Turtle Team. Congratulations! CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Goooood Morning Isle of Palms Nests #40 for IOP (#46 total for the turtle team) For the 4th time this season the Monday morning beach patrol at the
south end consisting of Elaine Schupp, Beverly Blalock, and Sandra
McLean have found a nest. They are getting very good at this! This
loggerhead laid 108 eggs at the base of a scarped dune. So the eggs
were taken to the 4th Avenue path near others recently laid there.
There was also a false crawl near Ocean Club Villas in Wild Dunes,
but this was a larger turtle and not the same one who nested near 6th Avenue.
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________________________________________________________________________________________________ Number 39 for IOP(plus the 6 on Sullivans) For the 5th day in a row we've had at least one new nest. This
morning Kathy Kowalchick and Angel Osborn were patrolling 9th to 30th
when Kathy found tracks just south of the 29th Avenue path. A turtle
had crawled up the very high dune and there were 3 disturbed areas.
We found the eggs in this highest place which was actually slightly
downhill behind the peak of the dune. We marked the nest there and
did not move the eggs, but the orange nest sign isn't even visible
from down on the beach. We will put a plain stick with orange tape
tied around it on the ocean side, so you will be able to find it and
check it. We will also need to be aware that the hatchlings might
need a barricade to guide them to the seaward side when they emerge
from the nest around the beginning of September, otherwise they would
likely go downhill toward the houses and the bright sky.
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Number 38 for the Isle of Palms Cheryl Burns and Anne Royall found tracks just south of 9th Avenue
today, near a tent that was left on the beach and tagged for removal
by the city. Paddle Boarder/Surfer Jack Harvey had also seen the nest
and was concerned enough about it to drive to Lowe's for tape to mark
it off for protection. We appreciate his interest and effort. The
eggs were almost high enough to leave in situ but just below the
highest wrack line. So after removing 115 loggerhead eggs, we
relocated them to a nice dune near the 4th Avenue path near nest #35.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________ Two Nests this morning Nests #36 & 37 for the Isle of Palms Turtle Patrol Remember How Important it is to Hydrate!!! There were 3 sets of loggerhead tracks this morning on the Isle of
Palms. Bob Clarke, Sue Hogan, and Anne Raines found tracks just below
the wrack line near 38th Avenue. This was the smallest clutch of eggs
found this season with only 57 relocated to a dune at Access Path
30A. There was also one marble sized "spacer" egg without a yolk in the nest. CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Nest #41 and a False Crawl
Nest #35 for the Isle of Palms Joe Hager and Dave Sowers both found tracks as Joe walked the south
end and Dave walked the north end of the Breach Inlet to 9th Avenue
section today. This was Dave's first time to see tracks in 1 1/2
years. Joe's tracks in Breach Inlet turned out to be a false crawl.
One field sign that told us this was that the inlet turtle left an
open egg chamber, meaning that she didn't lay eggs in it and cover
them up. The other clue was that the tracks were the same length on
an outgoing tide, meaning that she didn't spend enough time on the
beach to complete the process of nesting which takes over an hour. A
lot of the wrack is gone from this area, but the primary dune is
severely scarped.
At 4th Avenue Dave found only one track below the high tide line and
it was about 30 feet long. This meant that the turtle crawled up at
high tide leaving no incoming tracks below the tide line and did
spend a lot of time digging and laying and covering up, leaving a
very long outgoing track after the tide receded. At first we thought
it might have been the same turtle who false crawled in the inlet,
but track measurements revealed that the inlet turtle was quite a
bit larger than the 4th Avenue turtle. This nest was on a good dune,
so we did not relocate the eggs. CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
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First Nest in 6 Days CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
Ann Evans was filling in for Catherine Malloy and Brian Duffy this
morning and reported tracks just north of the 30A path. She did a
good job of spotting them because they were faint from being
windblown and did not extend below the last high tide line. This
turtle broke quite a few sea oats but managed to find a clear spot on
the primary dune to lay her eggs. We marked the spot and left them
there to incubate. This makes 40 total for our nesting project now. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ We Had a Triple Today The first nest today was reported by John and Anne Bauer between 26th
and 27th Avenues. It was in the pile of sticks just like our last few
and needed to be moved higher for safety. So it was kept there but
moved to a suitable dune close by. There were 117 eggs in this clutch. The second report of tracks came from Dan and Doreen Tylak who had
found tracks at the base of a hugely scarped dune along the 18th
fairway at the Links Course at Ocean Point. This turtle crawled along
the cliff wall for a while before laying eggs under the piles of
spartina wrack. We were up to her tricks and probed under the sticks
she piled up instead of in the clear areas where she turned around
and we found 92 eggs. These would probably have washed away on the
next high tide. So they were also taken to a good dune between 26th
and 27th Avenues.Then Barbara Allen, Sue Googer, Linda Bettelli, and Jane Powers found
tracks just north of 43rd Avenue. These were harder to locate, but
after a while 113 eggs were found. Since we already had two nests at
26A and these were also below the spring tide line, they were taken
to incubate with Nests #31 and #32.
CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos _________________________________________________________________________________________
#30 for IOP (Five Weeks Ahead of Last Years' Pace) Deborah Johnson discovered tracks right at the Beachwood East Access ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
#29 for IOP Our beaches seem to be suffering from quite a bit of erosion with these super high tides. This morning Elaine Schupp, Beverly Blalock, and Sandra McLean found evidence that a loggerhead tried and tried to climb up the steeply scraped dunes near Breach Inlet. She crawled about 50 feet trying to get up onto higher ground. Finally she gave up and laid her eggs at the base of the two foot cliff. It looked like 2 body pits with some wrack (sticks) between them. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
#28 for IOP and #6 for Sullivan's (Happy Father's Day) (CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos )
On Isle of Palms The turtles favored the south part of our region last night. Pam Meanwhile on Sullivans Then Eve Gentieu, Jo Durham, and Amy and Annie Saltzhauer had a nest _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Two More Nests for IOP #s 26 and 27 At dawn a woman who lives near 34th and Forest Trail named Gayla saw At the same time Cheryl Burns and Anne Royall found a nest in front
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On a Clear Day You Can See Forever....or at least to Folly Beach. Nest #5 for Sullivans Early this morning Helga Greim saw a loggerhead returning to the
ocean after laying eggs near the lighthouse. The tracks were only
visible above the high tide line. We always have to be very sure to look
above the high tide line. There were 122 eggs which seemed large, but
the tracks confirmed that this was indeed a loggerhead, and she
overflowed the egg chamber. The eggs were in a washover area below
the spring tide line, so they were relocated to a dune about a block
north between Station 18 1/2 and Station 19. This is Nest #5 for
Sullivan's Island.
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Glenn & Grace (Married over 72 years) Find Nest 29 at 22nd Ave on IOP Kathey O'Connor along with Glenn and Grace Rhodes discovered a nest
laid on an incoming tide near 22nd Avenue this morning. The turtle
had crawled over two lines of wrack on the beach to nest at the base
of the primary dune just above the spring tide line. Finding the eggs
was a challenge because of a soft buried layer of old wrack beneath
the surface. These piles of washed up sticks are sometimes
problematic for nesting turtles and for people trying to locate their
eggs, but they do help to build new dunes. This turtle threw sand
around after nesting, so we knew that there were eggs there
somewhere. When they were found, the nest was marked to incubate in situ. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Nest at Property Owners' Beach House Gone This morning Cindy Bergstrom and Patti Horton reported that the nest
at the POBH was gone. We are not sure exactly when it washed away,
but all that was left was the backup stick that was 6 feet behind the
nest. We went out to check and were only able to find the 6ft. back stick. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Number 4 for Sullivans After a False Start
"If at first you don't succeed" was her motto. A turtle crawled
ashore at the Station 19 rocks and went all around behind two dunes
before going back into the water around high tide just before
midnight. There was also no body pit or thrown sand even though she
did break some dune plants on her trek. Connie Cossetti and Gayle
Guidera reported these while Hannah Heyward had seen something that
she was not sure of near Station 16 1/2. When Jo Durham got to that
second site, she realized that there was a body pit on the dune and
one outgoing track showing that this crawl was made a little later in
the night, coming in at high tide and going out after the tide had
gone out some. The tracks were almost an exact match to the ones at
Station 19, so we believe the same turtle came back and laid 101 eggs
at Station 16 1/2. Linda Rumph found the eggs which were about a foot
from the edge of a scarped dune. Any more erosion and those eggs
would fall into the water, so we moved them to a safe place near the
other two at the Sand Dunes Club path.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What a Difference a Day Makes - Sunny & 2 Nests This part of the beach is flat as a board, but this turtle managed to find the only "bump" on the beach Isle of Palms now has 24 Nests. Dan and Doreen Tylak and Bille McRae
found tracks in front of Shipwatch Villas on a small mound of sand.
The rest of the area is all flat. This is the largest clutch yet with
154 eggs. It was taken to the area between 26th and 27th Avenues for
incubation. Mary Frazier also had tracks near 56th Avenue where at
turtle laid 134 eggs on a dune that was scarped. So this nest was
also placed between 26th and 27th Avenues. What a busy season this is!
Part of every nest is the record keeping. Counting the eggs in each relocated nest, while carefully moving them. Getting the signs and sticks marked, and orange tape surrounding each nest.
CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
______________________________________________________________________________________ Heavy Rain, 1 Nest and 2 False Crawls With this morning's heavy rain, we were thinking that the Isle of
Palms turtles might want to give us a break from nesting activities,
but NOOOO! It started when Brian Duffy found a false crawl at 44th
Avenue, but then Jimmie Frances Gurley and her 6 year old
granddaughter, Camden, reported a false crawl at Nancy Houser's at
57 Ocean Point along the 17th fairway and a loggerhead just crawling
back into the inlet at the last house before Dewees Inlet, #61 Ocean
Point near the 17th tee. When we got there, we saw that she had
nested in the deeply piled up sticks washed around from the marsh. We
found the eggs in spite of this wrack on it and the heavy rain. Since
they had to be moved anyway, we took the nest of 105 eggs to the
location of our triplets from yesterday, several doors north of the
28th Ave. access path. It was good to get home and get dry because
the pouring rain just would not quit - at least there was no
lightning. Many thanks to all of the volunteers who had to walk the
beach this morning. You are appreciated!
_______________________________________________________________________________________ Three Nests Today - 2 the Easy Way and 1 the HARD WAY! This morning Marilyn Colen was substituting for Gillian and Eric who When we went to Grand Pavilion, we saw that the field After fighting the tide after locating the nest, we gave up and waited for the tide to turn. When it seemed to be receding, Brian constructed a "sea wall" that protected us while we found the nest again and recued the remaining eggs. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
18 Nests on IOP as of This Morning A turtle finally laid eggs in the 30th to 49th Avenue section. This ______________________________ June Starts With More of the Same - 2 Nests
We added two more nests to the Island Turtle Team's roster this
morning making 20 total.
Sandi, Cara, and Tom Brown found a nest or 117 eggs below the spring
tide line at Beachwood East in Wild Dunes. Since it had to be
relocated, it was moved to 32nd Avenue where a suitable dune was
found. This makes 17 nests for the Isle of Palms and it was the first
one in three years for the Brown family.
Sullivan's now has three nests. Sally Jacob and Jo Durham found
tracks near the Sand Dunes Club path between Station 17 and 18 close
to the relocated spot of Nest #2 from Tuesday of this week. Yes, Jo
was out there again cleaning the beach and looking for tracks. The
turtle almost got above the spring tide line but not quite. The dune
where she laid the eggs is eroding, so the nest of 79 eggs was moved
higher on that same dune. ______________________________ What a Way to End the Month - 2 More Nests May ends with a total of 18 nests for Isle of Palms and Sullivans Two turtles nested 3 doors apart on Dunecrest Lane last night. Mary CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
_______________________________
Second Nest For Sullivans and 1 For IOP __________________________________________________________________________ BIG Morning 3 Nests on IOP and 1 For SI It started out nice and sunny on the IOP, but by the time we got to Sullivans there was a driving rain. The tracks at Port O'Call turned out to be a False Crawl and another Nest. This one needed to be relocated because there was no dune there in the washed over area. The 4th set of tracks at Seascape was not on any kind of dune either, and eggs were found there too. The problem with 2 relocations is we only had one bucket so Tee generously emptied out her backpack which made room for the precious cargo. So both of these nest were moved to the good dunes around the Point on the 18th Fairway near the Ocean Point Pool. Nest #12 contained 133 eggs and Nest #13 had 117 eggs. So one nest is in situ at the POBH and the other two are at the 18th Fairway dunes where the sand fences begin. Kristen and Jo a bit wet but happy with the season's largest nest so far. ______________________________ Another one near Breach #10 Another Breach Inlet Nest just 2 days after Nest #9. CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
____________________________________ #9 Near Breach Inlet Another busy morning. Allyson Lutz and Nancy Evans found two sets of Then Cheryl Burns and Anne Royall spotted tracks near Breach Inlet CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
_______________________________________ Finally a Nest at the North End #8 ONE DETERMINED TURTLE At last we have the first loggerhead nest at the north end. Usually CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
____________________________ Another Nest at the South End #7 CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos
____________________________ Nest #6 on Isle of Palms The turtles are coming in every night. It seems like we get one 
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Then Arlene Southerland and Diane Mullins with her dog, Sailor,
reported two sets of tracks at the north end. A turtle had climbed
the steep newly nourished dune on the 18th fairway and laid eggs in
the very soft sand with steep drop offs on both sides of the nest - a
very precarious location! This was also a small clutch with only 73
eggs. We normally don't see such small clutches such as these until
the end of the nesting season. Could we have an early finish in July?
These eggs were placed next to Nest #36 at Access Path 30A.
Diane had also seen tracks near the 17th Tee in Dewees Inlet.
Path in Wild Dunes. There was also a huge amount of sargassum weed
washed up from the last high tide. This turtle nested right at the
spring tide line in that flood and erosion-prone area, so the 128
eggs had to be relocated. They were relocated to a higher dune
between 26th and 27th Avenues for incubation.
Where to probe? The clue here was that there were no mounds where she pushed sand on top of the egg chamber. So we probed in the middle of the mound of sticks and that is where we found 130 eggs right away.Without relocation this nest was surely doomed to flood or even wash away. So it was moved close to yesterday's nest #28 near 3rd Avenue.
Jones and Jeff Brown reported tracks near 3rd Avenue. The turtle
climbed the 1 foot scarped dune to find a good place higher on the
primary dune. So this nest was marked and left in situ.
just southwest of Station 21 on Sullivan's Island. This nest was
below the spring tide line, so 135 eggs were moved about 20 feet
higher onto a dune at that same location. The Turtle Team took a
little while finding the eggs because the body pit and location of
the clutch was unusual.
a turtle returning to the water after nesting between 40th and 41st
Avenues. Sis Nunnally, Rita Oden, and Judy Ewing with their dogs
found this and also found a false crawl in the next block north. The
nest was a good one of 120 eggs, but it was below the spring tide
wrack line, so it was moved to a suitable dune nearby.
of 608 Ocean Blvd at the south end. This one contained 102 eggs was
also below the wrack line and in danger of flooding. Since we lost a
nest higher on the dune at this exact location last season, this one
needed to be moved as well. It was decided to keep these two new
nests together to monitor during incubation, so this one was put near
#26 at 40th Avenue to incubate
were out of town. She and her dog Whitney found tracks at 56A, at
Grand Pavilion, AND again at Beachwood East. Brian Duffy and
Catherine Malloy were also out and spotted these three turtle
crawls. Thinking that the one at Grand Pavilion that was below the
high tide line was a false crawl, we went to the others first and
found the eggs. Both nests needed to be moved to a better location.
Beth Meador from Indiana was staying at 56A and was very interested
in that nest.
signs were also good here for a nest. As soon as the first 22 eggs
were found, however, the tide inundated the egg chamber and made
getting the rest of the eggs out impossible. Brian and Catherine
stood at the marked spot, but were unable to turn back the tide while
we went ahead and moved Nests #19 (124 eggs) and #20 (98 eggs) down
to 28th Ave. Then after about 2 hours the tide finally allowed us to
retrieve the rest of the eggs. So these were also moved to 28th Ave.
It will be interesting to see what the hatch success of Nest #21 will
be. We're just glad we were able to save those eggs. The tracks
showed this to be a very small loggerhead and she only laid 80 eggs.
one was a smaller than usual loggerhead and her tracks just north of
30th Avenue were reported by Ann Evans, Terri Stafford, and Sis
Nunnally. Terri's dog Lucy was also helping with the morning patrol.
The eggs were in the wrack line and we had to go through quite a few
sticks to find them, but they were elevated just enough so that the
decision was made to mark the nest and leave it in situ.
Frazier and her grandson, Mac, found tracks in front of #6 Dunecrest
and then again at the Dunecrest Lane path. There were eggs in both
places. Unfortunately they were both below the spring tide line as
evidenced by the heavy piles of spartina wrack and eroded dunes
there. So both nests were moved to a good dune just south of the 32nd
Avenue path where they will have a much better chance of
survival. Mary's email address begins "mommafrazier" and she is
certainly living up to that name during her first season on the team.
Mac was carrying a plush sea turtle and wearing a Turtle Team T shirt
too which probably increased their chances of finding a nest as well.
The Turtle Team has NEVER had more than 3 Nests laid in one night since we've kept records. But last night was a very prolific time for our loggerheads with 2 false crawls and 4 nests (3 on IOP and 1 on SI).
Cindy Bergstrom and Patti Horton found tracks as soon as they got onto the beach at the Property Owners' Beach House in Wild Dunes. This turtle found the only great dune in the area, so we did not move the eggs. But as Cindy walked toward Dewees Inlet, she found two more sets of tracks at Port O'Call condos and another at Seascape near Ocean Club Villas. So Cindy found 4 different sets of tracks in that one area!
Earlier in the morning Kristin Zeasor-Sydow and Karen Britton had found tracks about 75 yards south of the Station 17 marker and were waiting, waiting, and waiting patiently for us to come there from Wild Dunes. They waited through the rain from TS Beryl and we finally arrived after 9 am. By that time Jo Durham was with Kristin in the rain because Karen had to leave for work. This is the first nest for Sullivan's and the largest nest on either island this season with 146 eggs relocated closer to the Sand Dunes Club Path because the whole area of dunes around Station 17 has a 6-8 foot escarpment where a nest would surely be destroyed by the tide. Kristin had her pile of trash that she had collected and was so excited and enthusiastic even after the long wait in the rain. She is a great Turtle Team member .
This one was found by Elaine Schupp, Sandra McLean, and Beverly
Blalock and they did a good job because the heavy rain and wind
from a band of Tropical Storm Beryl at 4 am made the short tracks
very faint. This appeared to be a small turtle who only laid 80
eggs. She not only laid them in the inlet but she also chose a spot
at the base of steeply scarped dune which will most likely flood
again. So they were moved to Access Path #1 near nest #9 for
incubation. It's incredible and unprecedented for us to have this
many nests and possibly a few more in May.
loggerhead tracks along the 18th Fairway very close to the nest there
from two days ago and to yesterday's false crawl at the beginning of
the sand fencing near the Ocean Point pool. This time they didn't try
to scale the steep scarp. Track measurements tell us that these were
two different turtles - the same very large turtle with the missing
right rear flipper claw who crawled up one night before and a smaller
one with two intact flipper claws. We were disappointed to see that
neither one nested and are still hoping for a nest there. There are
good dunes nearby at the beginning of the Ocean Point sand fencing
that would be perfect for nests. Maybe Emily and Amy will get one
tomorrow morning!
leading to a perfect body pit with thrown sand and other positive
field signs. Since Mary Alice's birthday was yesterday and she has
been away on her book tour for Beach House Memories, she did the
honors and found the eggs. A couple of them were very oblong like
bird eggs. The nest of 117 eggs was laid below the wrack or spring
tide line, so they were relocated to a good dune at Access Path #1 to incubate.
there are more nests in that section, but the turtles seem to be
favoring the area closest to Breach Inlet rather than Dewees Inlet so
far this season. There was also a false crawl in Wild Dunes at
Dunecrest Lane found by Mary and Dennis Frazier. At the golf course
Bille McRae was first to spot the tracks that showed the turtle
crawled along the steeply scarped dune for about 75 feet trying to
get up onto it before she finally made it up the steep cliff to nest
in the rough about in the middle part of the 18th fairway. This is
not the brand new dune put near the 18th green this spring, but the
consistency of the sand is very coarse with sharp shells in it and
the eggs were close to the surface. We are betting and hoping that
the nest is far enough back from the edge of the scarp so that the
nest will not wash away, so we left it where it was laid. The sign is
visible from the beach. Normally this early in the season we don't
have serious tropical storms and severe erosion. It was fortunate
that Billie, along with Dan and Doreen Tylak, were there because Dan
helped with the photography and took good pictures which appear
on the website.
Yet another nest at the south end this morning found by Franny
Russell and Rowe and Romona Montillo. There was an injured seagull
hunkered down next to the tracks which was rescued and taken to the
Isle of Palms Animal Control Officer, John Kellan. This turtle nested
around high tide, so only her outgoing tracks were obvious as she
crawled back out after laying her eggs. The egg chamber was in a
rather odd place practically outside the body pit. This location was
on the beach at the house where they recently filmed Army Wives and
then made a donation to the Turtle Team, so it was most appropriate.
We marked the nest and left it to incubate in situ
nest and several false crawls each morning. Gillian Ellis and Eric
Liebrecht spotted tracks at Beachwood East this morning. This is Nest
#6 for the Isle of Palms and it was laid on a scarped, unstable dune.
It was the largest clutch of eggs yet at 138 with two of them having
been broken as the mother loggerhead overflowed her egg chamber and
covered the nest. These were used for our DNA genetics research
project, so they will help with sea turtle conservation. 136 eggs
were relocated to a dune near 51st Avenue to incubate.
