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| A September Outer Banks Turtle Watch | |||
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 Miss K, Bonnie, Barbara and Marie watching over a Loggerhead Turtle Nest in Nags Head |
A newly-hatched loggerhead sea turtle heads for the water Buy this Giclee Print at AllPosters.com |
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Giant Amazon River Turtle in Balbina Lake Photographic Print Duplaix, Nicole Buy at AllPosters.com |
The
evening began around 6: pm. Several N.E.S.T.
volunteers were eying the nesting site. They began talking about books
they had read recently and discussing how nice it had been the previous
night watching the nest site and beach. They performed maintenance at
the nest site such as cleaning the trench the turtles would race down
on their way to the ocean. Batteries were checked on the special red flashlights
the volunteers use to watch and guide the turtles. Tonight, Miss K, Barbara, Bonnie and Marie have come early to start the evening watch. Their focus is a square section of sand near the dune line that has plastic sheeting along three sides, and police tape across the side that faces the ocean (see above picture). The nest site has a depression in the center. Last night, 7 babies climbed out, causing the depression. Those seven made their run to the ocean and a chance at continued life. Barbara quickly gets everything in order for a possible “Boil.” A Boil is described as sand churning when scores of baby loggerheads climb up through the sand from their nest. After the trench is cleaned, we place our flashlight and rubber gloves in place and await for turtle sign. |
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Galapagos Giant Tortoises Mating (Geochelone Elephantopus), Galapagos, Ecuador Photographic Print Newman, Mark Buy at AllPosters.com |
Barbara
explains to everyone gathered around the nest how the mother loggerhead
struggles out of the ocean to build her nest. Weighing up to 400 lbs.,
the mother creates deep ruts in the sand crawling to her nest site. Her
nest can be 2 ½ ft. under the sand. The nest looks like a cylinder
and expands at the bottom where she lays her eggs. She performs this excavation
with her back legs. Once the soft and leathery eggs are in place, she
covers the nest and travels back into the sea, leaving the site forever.
Barbara is also a searcher. At daybreak during the nesting season, she rides a 4 wheel motorcycle on the beach looking for nest sites. A volunteer like her found this nest site. It was determined to be too close to the surf line and in danger from storms. Her group dug up the nest, counted the eggs and reburied them in this protected area next to the dune line. There were 172 eggs in the nest. If you minus the 7 baby loggerheads that left last night, there are still 164 that could start boiling out of the sand tonight. |
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Woman and Giant Tortoise, Galapagos Island, Ecuador Photographic Print Buy at AllPosters.com |
Loggerheads
live in the Gulf Stream. They mature sexually after 25 years. At that
time they return to the same beach they were born to start the cycle all
over again. It is a precarious journey. Only 1 in 1,000 baby turtles will
make it to the Gulf Stream. Only
1 in 10, 000 live long enough to return to their birthplace to lay eggs.
It’s easy to see why they are an endangered species. |
 loggerhead Turtle source |
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About
7:30 PM someone notices movement in the sand depression. Barbara lays
a flashlight covered with a red lens next to the nest. For the next 30
minutes we watch transfixed as one baby turtle claws up through the sand
and remains resting, gathering its strength for the race to the sea. |
Leatherback Turtle Female Laying Eggs at Night, Matura Beach, Trinidad Photographic Print Oxford, Pete Buy at AllPosters.com |
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 Heads and flippers just starting to appear in the sand........... |
Then more heads and flippers begin popping through the the soft sand.
Soon, more young turtles emerge from their sandy birthplace and huddle
together experiencing their first moments in their new world. Then without
warning they begin to trickle toward the sea. The surrounding crowd jostles
for a good viewing position as Barbara tells everyone to stay out of their
path. |
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Then,
almost magically, at 8 PM, the young loggerheads begin to boil en mass
from the nest with one purpose in life, to crawl toward the light and
sound of the sea until they reach water and safety. Clouds obscure the
moon tonight as the turtles begin moving in the right direction. With
a volunteer’s small white light shining near the surf line, the
small army surges forward toward the sea. They march 2 to 3 abreast towards
the light, urged on by the salty and moist sea air.
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 Baby loggerheads boiling out the dsand! |
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“It’s
God’s work,” someone whispers, as we all stand in awe of nature
in its beautiful dance with life and death. Hazards are everywhere, as
ghost crabs rush in, attempting to grab a tasty turtle and carry it back
to their nest. Volunteers scout the trail to the sea, and attempt to remove
every crab they find, hoping to give another young turtle a chance at
life. |
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Loggerhead Turtle Buy this Note Card at AllPosters.com |
 Turtles marching toward the ocean |
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As the turtles reach the surf, many are thrown back onto the shore by
the crashing waves. Using dim lights, the volunteers help as many as they
can. Someone said they counted 67 baby loggerheads successfully leaving
the nest and entering the sea. |
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 A baby loggerhead has flipped over on its back |
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We
spent several minutes marveling over the wonders of life that we had seen
tonight. Some folks were swapping stories of other watches that had not
been as fruitful as this nights. Many said they had attended several watches
and never seen a boil until tonight. I felt extremely lucky; this was
my first nest watch, and I saw a boil. I would like to thank Barbara and
the other volunteers who were so kind to let me experience this moment
with them. I also want to thank the baby turtles, who taught me much about
life by just letting me watch them. The volunteers plan to return tomorrow evening and assist the remaining 98 baby loggerheads backs to the next stage of their life, should they decide to leave their nest. |
An endangered loggerhead turtle with a missing right rear flipper Buy this Giclee Print at AllPosters.com |
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 Searching for any turtle that may need a last minute hand |
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| Epilogue | |||
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Over
the 9 days in September 2005, that this nest experienced hatching activity,
a total of 131 babies were officially counted crawling into the sea. A
breakdown of the number of turtles that made their way into the ocean
each day follows... |
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Thursday,
September 22, 2005: – 7. Friday, the night I witnessed: 66 Saturday: 24: 25 or 27 Sunday: 17 Monday: 1 Tuesday: 0 Wednesday: 13 Thursday: 0 Friday: 2 |
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The
nest was excavated at 8:00 pm Friday, September 30. Barbara Mason, the
nest mother began digging and immediately found one turtle which was placed
in the trench and crawled to the end where he was then taken into the
surf and released. Approximately 1 minute later another turtle was discovered.
The second turtle was less active and with some coaxing managed to travel
approximately half to three quarters of the way down the trench; then
it was taken to the surf for release. No other live turtles were discovered
in the nest. Millie Overman arrived at the nest at approximately 8:15 pm and observed the unhatched eggs and dead turtles. Once the eggs and casings were totaled, the eggs were buried in the excavated nest site, the casings were buried in another hole, and the trench was filled. All fencing and stakes were removed and site was returned to natural state. Final calculations revealed 133 empty turtle casings, 1 dead turtle, 1 piped turtle, 36 infertile eggs for a total count of 171 eggs. The remaining eggs were buried in the excavated nest site, the casings were buried in another hole, and the trench was filled. All fencing and stakes were removed and site was returned to natural state. |
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Important information about sea turtles. | |
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Sea
turtles are protected under the Endangered Species Act, 1973. It is illegal
to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, capture or collect sea turtle
eggs, hatchlings, adults and body parts. Violators can be prosecuted under
Civil and Criminal laws and be assessed heavy penalties. For information
about the Network for Endangered Sea Turtles or to volunteer contact
NEST |
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Note
from the writer and photographer: I did not have an ultraviolet camera
lens nor was there any moonlight this evening. Flash cameras are not allowed
because they are damaging to the young turtles. Please enjoy,
Roger Jarrell
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| VIDEOS | |||
| LOGGERHEAD
SEA TURTLE NEST BOILS OVER in SOUTH CAROLINA |
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| Holden Beach Turtle Hatching | |||
| Leatherback
Turtle Hatchling Seeking Ocean at Emerald Isle |
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| Endangered
Leatherback Hatchling Running Towards the Sea |
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| Back to special stories | |||