TURTLE DAD AND TURTLE GRANDKID

Recently, my granddaughter, Kiira, joined me on a "turtle walk" early one morning while she was staying with us.  You can see by the photo included in this post that while we didn't see any "hatchlings" left over from the previous night's hatchings, we did find plenty of evidence that at least 59 hatchlings crawled from their nest to the ocean from one nest, and another 32 tracks near the water line indicated that most of another nest that hatched overnight also made it to the ocean.  We'll have to get out again next week to see if we can see any "stray" hatchlings as they make their way to the ocean.

So, what's with the photo orientation?  We'll have to ask the website developers why they don't have a convenient way to manipulate the photo clockwise and counterclockwise on the site - especially when the photo was correctly oriented when it was uploaded.  In any case, you get the idea.  See the hatchlings' tracks that Kiira is pointing out to the camera?  She spotted those tracks before I did.  Sharp eyes - and sharp granddaughter!

I THINK HE/SHE MADE IT!

 I think that he/she made it!  Yes, it's quite amazing, but this is not the first time that this blogger has followed some misguided hatchling tracks for great distances along the beach. From time to time, because of lights that distract the hatchlings, or just general disorientation once the hatchlings push their way out of the nest, a few hatchlings seem to go amazing distances - when you consider how small and slow they are, parallel to the shore line.  This morning, I found another such track and I followed it for a very long distance, relatively speaking.  Most of his/her nest-mates had headed for the ocean once they got out of the nest (see photo with very light tracks on the wet beach leading to the ocean), but this misguided one went a total of 485 yards, by my calculations.  I'm not sure of the accuracy of that statistic, but I used my hand-held GPS and found that he had traveled a total of 10.4 "seconds".  As you know, when using latitude and longitude, a common way to list the location of an object on the earth's surface is in "degrees", "minutes" and "seconds" of latitude and longitude. The "minutes" and "seconds" don't really have anything to do with time in this instance, but they are, along with "degrees", a measure of distance between two points on the map.  A few days earlier, I had paced out one "second" of latitude on the beach.  My estimate was that one "second of latitude" equaled 140 feet, so that's how I arrived at the figure of 485 yards.  That was calculated as follows:

Hatchling Tracks to the Ocean

N 27 28 03.8 minus N 27 27 53.4 = 10.4 seconds, so 10.4 seconds of latitude X 140 feet per "second" of latitude = 1456 feet.  1456 feet divided by 3 = 485 yards

I'd be happy to have anyone do their own calculations and correct any major errors that I may have made in my calculations, but until I receive that response, I'll stick to my answer and remain in awe of the little tike that traveled that far.  By the way, I followed the tracks until he made a turn for the ocean and I lost his tracks in the wet sand.  That leads me to believe that he/she actually made it to the water and will start a long 20 year journey around the Atlantic Ocean basin and, perhaps one day, return to our area to lay eggs in another nest on our beach!

By the way, speaking of sea turtle journeys, has anyone else seen the DVD movie of such a journey?  I believe that the movie is called "Turtles: The Amazing Journey", and it truly is an amazing journey.  If you haven't seen it yet, treat yourself to one of nature's most interesting animal journeys. I'm sure that you'll enjoy it.  It's done in a very "tasteful" way, so that it's appropriate for children, as well.

LET THE HATCHING BEGIN!

As of approximately June 30, 2012 there have been several sea turtle nests that have hatched along our stretch of beach.  The sea turtle nest chart included in this posting is current as of July 4, 2012.  The photo of the Leatherback  hatch-ling is from a previous year.  This blogger has not yet seen any live hatch-lings - only a few who didn't make it to the ocean after climbing out of the nest.  Unfortunately, we are seeing a number of nests destroyed by "flooding", where the nest is too close to the shore and the high tides wash over the nests and flood them with water which then stops the eggs incubation cycle.  Many nests were laid too close to the shore line this year, because the sand near the Jetty is either too hard (that area of the beach was re-nourished this winter), or the escarpments along that area were too high for the adult sea turtles to climb far enough up on the beach to dig a nest and lay their eggs.  Any additional storms this year will increase the number of nests flooded or destroyed.  So far this season, there have only been 5 nests that are known to have been destroyed.  Keep your fingers crossed for another "quiet" year as far as storms go along our coast.

IT'S ABOUT TIME!

It's close to hatching time!  The photo above shows some "hatchlings" from several years ago, but the hatching season is upon us again - almost!  In fact, several of the recorded nests along our stretch of beach are due to hatch, although there is no evidence of any nests so far that have actually hatched.  Unfortunately, we have had several nests that have been "flooded out" or "washed out" by storm wave action, such as during the impact of the tropical storm called "Debbie" that flooded out much of the Florida panhandle area.  Fortunately, we had semi-strong winds and not as many damaging waves that could have destroyed more of the turtle nests on our beaches on the east coast of Florida.

During my beach walk this morning, I checked on about 7 of the recorded turtle nests that we estimated would hatch in early July.  None of the seven nests showed any activity, but I will keep a closer eye on them in the weeks to come, since it's about time!

In case any of you viewers would like to contribute your name and/or some money to what I believe is an important "project", you may want to check out the Sea Turtle Restoration Project at to see what that organization is attempting to do to save endangered sea turtles from being killed in the Gulf of Mexico.  It appears to be a very worthy project and will have implications for sea turtle nesting on our coast, as well.

MOVING RIGHT ALONG 2!

Moving right along!  We now have 23 documented nests (those recorded and marked by Environmental Associates, Inc.) and about 13 "possible" nests according to my record keeping, for a grand total of 36 nests along our section of beach. The photo map included in this blog post shows the approximate location of all 36 of those nests. The white star "pin markers" designate the nests officially documented and marked by EAI, while the red star "pin markers" designate the "turtle crawls" that I have recorded and which possible show where a turtle nest has been laid - even though not officially recorded by EAI.  As had been indicated in previous postings, EAI sometimes only officially marks 1 out of every 12 nests, or 1 out of every 24 nests, depending on what section of the beach they are surveying.  Their crew are out seven days a week during the "season" (usually March through November), but follow different procedures for recording sea turtle nests along the various coast areas that they check each day during the season.  And, yes - this is the second posting for today, because my original "draft" got lost in "cyberspace" when I tried to "preview" it.  It's been interesting trying to get these postings on line, because MS's IE apparently no longer supports this Google blog space and so I have to go online through Google Chrome to write and edit this blog!  I think that it can still be viewed through MS's IE, but their "incompatibility" makes things a bit more difficult!  I hope that you can still view this through whatever provider's Internet service you are using.

MOVING RIGHT ALONG!

The photo map of sea turtle nests in this posting shows the approximate location of 36 sea turtle nests along our stretch of beach.  The 23 nests designated with a white "pin" on the map show where the 23 documented nests are as identified by the Environmental Associates, Inc. (EAI) crew.  The remaining 13 nests identified by this writer as "possible" sea turtle nests are designated with a red "pin" on the map.  EAI personnel ride up and down the designated beaches every day during the "season" (usually March - November) and typically mark only one out of every 12 nests, or one out of every 24 nests, that they find.  This writer, on the other hand, not only includes the ones that EAI officially mark, but also includes all "possible" nests, as identified by the "turtle crawl" marks left in the sand as the sea turtle comes out of the ocean and seeks a place to lay her eggs - it's usually a "U" shaped crawl out of the water, up to a point on the beach where the nest is dug and the eggs are laid, and then another crawl down the other side of the "U" and back into the water.

YOU WERE NOT FORGOTTEN!

Did you think that I had forgotten you?  No, it was just a slow start to the sea turtle nesting season.  The map in this posting shows the number and placement of the sea turtle nests to date.  You'll also find additional information in the other graphics which provides more detailed information of the nests to date. By the way, if you have not seen the DVD movie "Turtle: The Incredible Journey", you should get the DVD from one of the movie rental places and view it.  It's a great way to see how the sea turtle hatchlings make a 10 - 20 year circular journey in the Atlantic Ocean basin and return to the same shores to nest and lay their eggs for the next generations.  Apparently, they've been doing this for about 2 million years and may be able to do that for another "few" years - if we humans don't mess up the process too much more than we have done to date.

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