Click on Island Turtle Team for nest Statistics
Isle of Palms Hatchlings Doing Well at the Aquarium
We will photograph our hatchlings every few weeks to document their rate of growth
Nest Number 33 at 51st Ave
We were all surprised to see that a turtle plowed down most of the sticks at Nick Turpen's Nest #9 during the night, leaving only one standing and laid eggs just landward of that nest. When Marilyn Colen and her dog, Mississippi, found the tracks and the body pit, she thought that someone had taken the back stick from another nest to mark this new one. The other two were buried in the sand by the turtle! We restored Nest #9's markers and found eggs for Nest #33. By the size of the tracks this is likely the turtle who made the false crawl at Beachwood East the night before. We're glad she found a good place even if she almost dug in the same spot where she could have damaged the previous nest laid on June 10th.
Finally Nest #32 After a Week Wait
We've been wondering why our nesting turtles had not done anything for a week, when Sissy Harris reported tracks at 48th Avenue in front of the Citadel Beach House. At first we thought there was no nest because the body pit was indistinct, thrown sand was not evident, and she crawled up into the dunes without nesting after being at the first site instead of going right back to the ocean. However, 113 eggs were found. Since she failed to get up to the dunes to lay them and fall storms are on the way, we moved the eggs to a good dune near 32nd Avenue.
Nest #30 & #31 on a Stormy Morning 97/19/08.
Once again Sgt. Bobby Jimenez had a busy turtle night on beach
patrol. He saw a turtle going back to the water at 22nd Avenue after
laying her eggs. In the morning Grace and Kathey found the tracks and
reported them. They led to a very high spot which is perfect for a
nest that will hatch during the peak of hurricane season. We found
the eggs without much trouble and marked it to incubate in situ.
Jessica Flowers was out patrolling also and will protect this nest.
Another turtle nested during the early morning hours at 31st Avenue, also under Sgt. Jimenez's police protection. This one tore up several
sea oats to lay her nest on a high dune similar to the one at 22nd
Avenue. The tracks were reported by Judy Ewing, Rita Oden, and Sis Nunnally as well as a predawn call from John Gully. We had to probe a little longer to find these eggs, but they were found.
Nest #28 & #29 Today.....Twins?
Sgt. Jimenez reported false crawls at 31st Ave., 25th Ave., and 21st.
Ave. just before and then after midnight, BUT she finally decided to
lay eggs near the Sea Cabins pier at 14th Ave. around 2 a.m. where
all of the lights and people are as well as being on a part of the
beach which is frequently inundated by storm tides. Glenn Rhodes came
upon this nest on his early morning walk and reported it as well. In
the meantime Franny Russell found another nest in front of 708 Ocean
Blvd. This nest was also below the spring tide line and subject to
fall flooding. So both of today's nests were moved to a good dune in
front of 708 Ocean Blvd. several feet apart.
Nest #27 at Second Ave. 07/15/08
Chaunci Pirhalla and her son Eli discovered tracks in front of 212
Ocean Blvd. Rowe and Romona Montillo were out on this section as well
and will share nest protection duties. The field signs showed that
the turtle almost certainly laid eggs there - she dug up green
vegetation, threw sand around while covering up the egg chamber, made
a classic body pit, etc. However, she nested on an incoming tide, so
the track length difference was not evident. The dune was nice and
high, but it was a new dune with very soft sand (and plenty of ants)
and after many tries, the eggs were not located. The spot was marked
as a tentative nest and will be monitored for hatchling emergence
around the end of the first week of September
Nest #26 at 22nd Ave
Once again Sgt. Bobby Jimenez got to see a nesting loggerhead. Around
midnight on patrol he saw a turtle covering her nest after laying
eggs near 22nd Avenue. The wind was strong and he was worried that
the body pit would be obscured by blowing sand. So he put an orange
flag to mark the spot. By morning Amy Wilkerson, Emily Dziuban, Jan
and Mark Schreiber, Glenn and Grace Rhodes, and Kathey O'Connor were
on the beach and the body pit was indeed blown over hiding all field
signs except for the tracks. After quite a few minutes of probing,
the eggs were located by Bev and the nest was marked and left in
situ. We need more nests in this area because it is the very best
habitat for nests to incubate and hatch.
Nest #25 at Ocean Point
What we've been hoping for finally happened this morning! A turtle crawled up close to Dewees Inlet and laid eggs on the beach adjacent
to the 17 Tee of the Links Course. Jim Ueberroth and Donna
Smith were the lucky Turtle Team members who found these tracks. The
tracks were beyond the renourished sand and they were in beautiful
fine white sand. The location, however, was less than perfect. Not
only was the nest way back into Dewees Inlet, but it was also in
front of a large scarped dune and below the spring tide line. So 115
eggs were relocated to a dune few doors from the Ocean Point
boardwalk toward the inlet. We're so happy that the folks who
suffered through the renourishment disruption now also have a nest to
protect. There's still time for more there this season.
Three Nests in One Morning! - 07/08/08
It was a busy morning with 3 turtles nesting last night. Sgt. Jimenez saw one returning to the water at 39th Avenue at 1:30 a.m. & sent a text message. This nest was in a good place and the eggs were easily located making it Nest #22. Bevin Googer & Meghan Pennell were on the beach and found the tracks later. Then Rowe Montillo spotted more tracks at Access Path 8A south of the pier. He and Romona and Chaunci Pirhalla were happy to get their first nest of the season, Nest #23. Then Catherine Rose called from Dunecrest Lane after finding tracks leading into the very soft sand from the renourishment project. This turtle had to make her way through a hole left on the beach. Lucky for her she could climb out and continue up the beach. The field signs were faint because of the quality of the dry spongy sand, and none of us could tell for sure if it was a nest or a false crawl. The probe sticks went down 2 1/2 feet with no resistance, and we were just about to give up. But Bev investigated a spot with her hands and found 112 eggs plus a tiny yolkless one. The flat, washed over area was not suitable for a nest, so we relocated these eggs near Nest #22 at 39th Avenue, so they can be monitored together at the time of emergence. This third nest, #24, turned out to be the same turtle who created the false crawl at 35th Avenue the night before according to the characteristics of her tracks. Our girls were certainly busy nesting last night!
Nest #21 Moved to 35th Ave
Linda Forslund and Lori Nelson found two sets of tracks today. The
first ones they saw were at 35th Ave. and the second set was at 48th
Ave. The turtle nesting at 48th was observed by Sgt. Jimenez and Barb
Bergwerf around 1 am. She had a metal flipper tag (#TTG308) which
they read as she crawled back to the water. This nest of 128 eggs was
relocated to 35th Ave. The tracks at 35th, however, turned out to be
a false crawl from another turtle that Sgt. Jimenez saw later in the
night. We were doubtful when we saw that the field signs did not look
promising (tracks almost the same length on an outgoing tide, no
thrown sand after covering up, an open hole not covered over). We
marked this spot with a plain stick and no nest sign and will check
it at hatching time, but we don't expect that there are eggs in this
spot. She may return to try again tonight.
07/07/08
Nest #20 at 5th Ave
The turtles are being partial to the area between 2nd and 7th Avenues
this season. Another nest was found in front of 506 Ocean by Turtle
Team members Pat and Howard Fields and Joe Hager this morning. This
makes 7 nests in that section so far with more possible. The dunes
which were badly scarped by erosion over the winter months are
repairing themselves and the new sand collecting at the base is
suitable for turtle nests. The eggs were confirmed and the nest was
marked in situ for hatching probably in late August.
07/03/08
Nest #19 at 7th Ave.
Sgt. Bobby Jimenez alerted us to the presence of a nesting Loggerhead
in front of 704 Ocean Blvd. around midnight. The turtle had crawled
up until she got to a red catamaran and stopped to lay eggs. We saw her
finish and go back into the water. She had no tags, and her carapace
measured 96 cms long. Franny Russell was called to come out since it
was her morning to patrol and she lives close enough to be there in 2
minutes. We marked the egg chamber for relocation and came back at 6
a.m to move the 118 eggs up onto the dune between 704 and 706 Ocean,
keeping the nest away from the beach paths for those houses. We think
this is probably the same turtle that Franny encountered at 6 a.m.
near 5th Avenue exactly 2 weeks ago.
07/02/08
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Turtle comes up at 40th Ave
The Loggerhead that false crawled twice in Wild Dunes Wednesday night came back and laid her eggs at the 40th Avenue path last night. There
was no doubt when we saw her tracks with the long dash mark in the
middle. Her carapace measured 96 cms long and 90 cms wide. She had no
flipper tags. The turtle was seen nesting at 10 pm by Joe and Brita
Bednar who live near 40th Avenue. They called to report it and the
Turtle Team was in attendance while she laid her eggs. The high wind
and blowing sand made it difficult, but she managed to cover the eggs
and crawl back to the water.
The body pit was completely blown away
by morning, so it was fortunate that we had the location of the egg
chamber marked with a sign. The nest was below the spring tide line
and was marked for relocation at dawn. All 105 eggs (plus a tiny
yolkless one) were moved to a suitable dune at 36th Avenue near Nest
#17, laid the night before. Bob Clarke, Carey Causby, and Sue Hogan
will have the responsibility of protecting this one.
Nest #17 and Two False Crawls in Wild Dunes
Tracks were spotted by Sgt. Jimenez of the IOPPD and by Bob Campbell near 36th Avenue that disappeared about halfway up the beach. When the Turtle Team arrived, we discovered that the wind had blown away the landward portion but that a faint body pit could be seen on the small primary dune. Team members Sue Googer, Linda Bettelli, Jane Powers, and Barbara Allen were searching this section for tracks and came upon this mystery too. We found broken buried green dune grass in this area, so we knew a turtle had dug an egg chamber here during the night . After a few tries, we did find the eggs and marked the nest where it was laid.
In the meantime Terri Hogge found two false crawls in Wild Dunes. They were probably from the same turtle. There was a very noticeable barnacle mark right in the center of the crawl. She came up at Shipwatch and crawled quite a long way before turning around without digging.
There were also tracks going into the lagoon in front of the Ocean Point houses but no returning tracks. All we can guess is that she crawled into the lagoon on the beach around high tide and then swam out of it through the outlet at its north end leaving no outgoing tracks.
Nest #17 and Two False Crawls in Wild Dunes
Tracks were spotted by Sgt. Jimenez of the IOPPD and by Bob Campbell near 36th Avenue that disappeared about halfway up the beach. When the Turtle Team arrived, we discovered that the wind had blown away the landward portion but that a faint body pit could be seen on the small primary dune. Team members Sue Googer, Linda Bettelli, Jane Powers, and Barbara Allen were searching this section for tracks and came upon this mystery too. We found broken buried green dune grass in this area, so we knew a turtle had dug an egg chamber here during the night . After a few tries, we did find the eggs and marked the nest where it was laid.
In the meantime Terri Hogge found two false crawls in Wild Dunes. They were probably from the same turtle. There was a very noticeable barnacle mark right in the center of the crawl. She came up at Shipwatch and crawled quite a long way before turning around without digging.
There were also tracks going into the lagoon in front of the Ocean Point houses but no returning tracks. All we can guess is that she crawled into the lagoon on the beach around high tide and then swam out of it through the outlet at its north end leaving no outgoing tracks.
In the meantime Terri Hogge found two false crawls in Wild Dunes. They were probably from the same turtle. There was a very noticeable barnacle mark right in the center of the crawl. She came up at Shipwatch and crawled quite a long way before turning around without digging. There were also tracks going into the lagoon in front of the Ocean Point houses but no returning tracks. All we can guess is that she crawled into the lagoon on the beach around high tide and then swam out of it through the outlet at its north end leaving no outgoing tracks.
CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos.
Nest #16 At 52nd Ave. Near the Renourishment
The all night monitors for the renourishment project spotted tracks near 52nd Avenue, a block south of the boundary for the project, and
marked 2 body pits for us. Sue Bozeman also found this nest on her
morning patrol. We saw that the turtle had made one disturbance in
the sand near the present high tide line but then crawled higher to
near the sand fence and there was a good body pit with signs of a
nest. Eggs were found and it was marked and left in situ. 06/25/08
Turtle comes in just after sunset - nests at 6th Ave.
Last night(06/22/08) just after sunset there was a big thunderstorm with lightning and rain. That didn't stop a loggerhead from crawling up over the primary dune in front of 608 Ocean Blvd. The turtle tried to dig in a thickly vegetated spot and we think that the sea oat roots were a problem because her egg chamber was not large enough to hold all 96 eggs. It was obvious that they were going to overflow the hole she dug, so we removed the last 17 of them before she covered the nest. Some would certainly have been smashed. She was measured and checked for flipper tags. After she had left, we dug a hole on the ocean side of the dune where there weren't so many roots and placed all of the eggs into it. We don't usually have to move a nest closer to the water, but I think this was the best thing since we needed to dig a larger hole anyway. The location would also have been bad for hatchlings emerging. June Dawson, Elaine Schupp, Kylie Ruddock and Debbie Donovan will protect this nest
Finally Our Lost Wild Dunes Turtle Nests at 6th Ave
The turtle who has crawled into the project area 8 times since June 16th, even into the hard hat area once, finally laid her eggs last
night! With the distinctive barnacle mark on the right side, her
tracks are easy to distinguish. She nested in front of 616 Ocean Blvd
on the edge of the primary dune, so the nest was left where it was
laid. Since she didn't crawl Thursday night, we weren't sure where
she had gone, but we're happy that she finally succeeded. Anne Royall
and Cheryl Burns were lucky enough to find their second nest of the
season and now we have four in the section from Breach Inlet to 9th
Avenue, all in situ.
Thanks also to Sgt. Bobby Jimenez for his assistance
CLICK on thumbnails to enlarge photos.
Turtle Wanders Around Wild Dunes Without Nesting
We have had two turtles making false crawls in the renourishment area. We know this because one has a large distinctive mark (probably from a barnacle) on the right side of her plastron. She accounts for 8 of our 16 false crawls this season. She was first seen by the night monitors at Shipwatch around 10 pm last night, crawling up a sand bridge where the pipe had been removed 2 hours earlier. We watched her go to the top and were afraid she would fall into the large crevasse where the pipe had been removed, but instead she came back down and went to the ocean, almost bumping into the tents and chairs that people insist on leaving out overnight. I can't believe they leave them in the project work zone - but they do. She came ashore 3 more times during the night after we saw her without laying eggs, once in the hard hat area, crawling all the way up to the pipe and along it for about 25 feet before giving up and going back and also at Summerhouse and then at Ocean Club. Terri and Allen Hogge discovered the tracks at the north end.
Nest #13 at 5th Ave. on IOP 06/18/08
Another turtle still on the beach at dawn was discovered by Franny Russell this morning. It was near the 5th Avenue path and it was a very large female just covering up her eggs and throwing sand. Monique Morales-Kroll was also there soon afterwards. The turtle laid her eggs just barely above the spring tide line, so the Turtle Team had a tough decision about whether to leave the nest there or move it higher on the dune. If this had been a July or August nest with storm tides coming before hatch time, we would have moved it. But our experience has shown that these May or June nest usually do quite well in a spot not so high. So the nest was marked and left where it was laid.
Nest #12 at 31st Ave. 06/17/08
Around 5:30 this morning John Gully was taking his early morning
walk and saw a turtle nesting at 31st Avenue. He called us and we got
there just in time to see her crawl back to the water. The nest was
just too far below the spring tide line, so the eggs were moved to an
appropriate dune at the 31st Avenue access path. She laid 97 of them
and one near the middle of the clutch was broken and empty. It may
have hit a stick going down, but we were glad to clean that out
before relocating the rest of them. Bevin Googer and Maggy Pennell
did their morning patrol and discovered the new nest and they will
help protect it.
It was another busy night for our turtles (and morning for the Turtle Team).
The two turtles who tried to nest night before last at Grand Pavilion
may have returned. The tracks were different from each other and were
farther north this time - at Mariner's Walk and at Shipwatch. The
night monitors for the renourishment project saw one of them
wandering around seaward of the pipes on the very wide beach at 3:30
a.m. and called me, but then she went back to the water without
laying. This morning the sun revealed another set of tracks which
circled around several tents with many chairs left out overnight in
front of Mariner's Walk on the very wide beach seaward of the big
pipe. This turtle did not lay either.
Nest #11 at 5th Ave.
A turtle nested next to the 5th Avenue access path last night. We think this could be the same one who false crawled and then nested near 57th Avenue approximately 2 weeks ago because the tracks are exactly the same size and have the distinctive big barnacle mark on her plastron. This time she found a nice 6-7 foot high steep dune and got all the way to the top of it to lay her eggs. Anne Royall and Cheryl Burns reported the tracks when they were walking with Anne's little dogs Maggie and Monty. The nest was marked and not moved. We have only had to move two out of our eleven nest so far when it's usually about half that have to be relocated.
Nest #10 near Breach Inlet
After a report of a Leatherback turtle trying to nest near the pier around midnight we were really hoping that we'd have a really big nest this morning! However, Caroline Stone and Alice Williams found a very beautiful symmetrical loggerhead track at Access Path 2A near Breach Inlet instead. We're glad that we now have a nest in that section too. She laid eggs next to someone's private boardwalk and it was above the spring tide line. Mary Alice probed for the eggs and located them quickly. The small dune was not scarped by erosion as so many are in that area, so they didn't have to be moved.
Nest #9 on IOP - A very Small Turtle
A very small loggerhead laid a new nest between 50th and 51st Avenues during the night. Nick Turpen discovered the tracks which were also seen by Jennings White visiting from Asheville NC as well as Chris and Lindsay Beatty who come here each summer from New York and are always interested in turtle activities on the Isle of Palms. This seems to be the first nest for this petite turtle and we will be on the lookout for her from now on. She nested right around the spring tide line, so we decided to leave the nest where it was because these early season nests are not usually affected by hurricane storm tides. She missed the renourishment area where we would have been required to move the nest by only two short blocks. Congratulations to Barb who located the eggs on the very first probe of the stick!
Nests #6, #7 and #8 June 7 & 8
Jan and Mark Schreiber & Kathy O'Connor & Grace Rhodes as well as Emily Dziuban & Amy Wilkerson all found tracks just north of Access Path 26A on the Isle of Palms. It was a beautiful spot, just high enough in the dunes. So once the eggs were found, all we had to do was mark the nest and leave it alone for the little turtles to develop. This is Nest #6.
The second nest (#7) of the morning was spotted by Peter Greim and reported to us by Eve Stone at Station 28 1/2 on Sullivan's Island. This is where we have Nest #2 almost exactly 2 weeks ago (probably the same turtle who likes this spot). However, the wind had blown sand over the nest making the signs hard to read. But the eggs were found and it was a good thing too because they were well below the spring tide line and needed to be moved higher a small clutch of 96. So this was done and Nest #6 is now marked in front of the dome house on the Station 28 1/2 path.
Another turtle nested at Station 25 last night (06/05). Since it's only been 9 days since Aussie Geer found Nest #3 in that block, we think there might be at least 3 turtles who are going to nest on Sullivan's this year - including the one at Station 28 1/2. The tracks were a little larger than at Nest #5. The sandbar really has receded and the turtles are taking advantage of the good beach for nesting. Eve Stone called in the tracks again this morning and the turtle found a beautiful dune and laid eggs before low tide. The eggs were found easily and the nest was marked where it was laid.
Nest #5 On IOP - June 2
The turtle who made tracks between 56th and 57th Avenues on Sunday morning came back again to within a few feet of where she was before and laid eggs last night. The large and dedicated group of Monday morning walkers in that section is headed up this year by Mary Ann Shinners. Kathy Thompson was first to spot the tracks as she and Mary Ann and Kathy Nameth walked the lower half of their section. Also in on the find were Roger Attansio, Jennifer and Fred Shinners, Arlene Southerland, and Linda Daehn. It's amazing how the turtle came out of the ocean at the same spot and this time went a few feet higher toward the dunes. Once again the strong wind had blown the field signs away and the body pit was hard to see. She laid 148 eggs, but 4 of them were found to be broken.
The nest was relocated to 32nd Avenue near where Nest #4 was marked yesterday morning, so they can be monitored for hatchlings at the same time. Since this is within the renourishment project area, we had no choice but to move the nest because sand will be pumped on top of that spot. It's also a good thing we got those eggs out because two of the broken eggs were down in the bottom of the clutch and could have spoiled the nest with bacterial infection.
Nest #4 On IOP - June 1
Two different turtles came ashore on the Isle of Palms last night. Sissy Harris, Ann Evans, and Terri Stafford spotted tracks near 32nd Avenue in the damp sand, but the body pit was hard to see because high wind had erased the tracks that were up in the soft sand. Eggs were confirmed and even though the nest was seaward of the primary dune, it was left in situ because these early nests are not usually subject to very strong storm tides before they hatch.
The second set of tracks was found by Jeanne Robinson at Access Path 56A in Wild Dunes. This is the first crawl within the Renourishment Project area from 53rd Avenue to Dewees Inlet. This was a slightly larger turtle who appeared to have a very large barnacle on her plastron. She came ashore early in the night before high tide and once again the tracks were blown away in the soft sand. We did find a faint body pit and thoroughly probed the area twice unfortunately finding no egg chamber. We would have had to relocate this nest because of the renourishment to come in that area. Perhaps she will return tonight?
Nest #3 on Sullivans Island - May 28
Aussie Geer spotted turtle tracks midway between Station 25 and Station 26 It's great that the turtles are making it over the sandbar this year and maybe it will be a boom year for Sullivan's. This would be a good thing for them with the renourishment project at Wild Dunes. The turtle crawled all the way to the primary dune and laid her eggs up against it. The tide had really gone out by the time the turtle was done covering her nest so the turtle had a long, long crawl back to the ocean. We found one empty eggshell under the sand that obviously was broken by the mother after she laid them, but the others seemed all right. So we left the eggs where they were laid and marked the nest with a sign.
First Nest on Sullivans Island
Once again a turtle has nested at the north end of Sullivan's Island in spite of the sandbar - almost at the same spot as our final nest of 2007 On Friday morning Helga found tracks that matched the two false crawls the night before near 5th Avenue on the Isle of Palms the night before with a defective left rear flipper. We were looking for her to return to the south end of the Isle of Palms, not the north end of Sullivan's. She stayed a long time, buried green vegetation, threw sand when she covered up, and did a great job hiding her eggs.
