Did you know our Sea Turtle Project has a group of incredibly loyal volunteers who nest sit to make sure the babies hatch sucessfully and make it to ocean ? The first nest hatched last Monday night around 9:20PM and our dedicated nest sitters were there to help! This was day 50 of the eggs being laid (eggs usually start to hatch after 60 days of being laid). They spend the nights waiting and protecting the nest and once they start to hatch and then are there to be of help. This nest had 81 babies, 30 of which were undeveloped.
Here are the instructions shared to help the volunteers with the babies. “The red filtered lights will be used for nest monitoring. However, once the hatchlings are out and are disoriented, switch to regular white light. It is impossible to look for hatchlings in the dunes with a red light. Someone will need to stand at the water with one flashlight. Only use white light if the turtles are going away from the water. Give them a couple of minutes to get adjusted to the beach. Buckets may be used to gather the lost hatchlings, but they will need to released close to the water so they can make the crawl themselves. Nest 2 sitting will start on Aug. 9th!”
Thank you Tammy and Cheryl and the volunteers for all you do!
We also had nest 6 laid this weekend! It was originally laid at 6th street in front of the embankment just above the high tide line, so it had to be relocated. The nest has been relocated south of the 8th Street crossover. This nest will hatch in about 60 days.
Here is a great youtube video of a sea turtle baby hatching. Quite the struggle!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2guUpDYRug
