North: Pat O. and Jean had plenty of activity this morning with 2 nests! They found the first crawl low on the beach south #9mm. Walking on, there was a second crawl in front of the first house at Prince George. The body pit was tucked up in the front dune. Jean probed, with Pat looking on, and located the egg chamber of DEB44 within 5 minutes! She found the eggs very deep possibly indicating a small clutch as the turtle nears the end of her nesting cycle. The crawl south #9mm, again located by Jean, needed relocation. They moved DEB45 almost directly back to better habitat. This was a morning of excellent teamwork with Jean nearing certification!

Middle: Donna approached DEB02 R 5/25 between WW#3 and #4 and was shocked to see that the coyote had tunneled deeply under the corner of the screen. She counted 92 egg shells on top of the nest:( This nest is scheduled to be inventoried Thursday at 6:00 p.m. There are still eggs, etc. remaining in the nest. This will give our inventory speaker, Walter, a chance to talk about predator threats to sea turtles. We hope there are some survivors. On a happier note, Donna had a crawl north WW#6 with a body pit on the dune slant that told her a nest was there! She probed and located the deep egg chamber of DEB43…good going Donna:) 

Hobcaw: We will inventory HOB02 at WW#12 tonight at 6:00 p.m. Please check back here at 5:30 for inventory status in case of rain.

DEB 45 HOB 35 SCUTE 193 SC 5027

Save the date: S.C.U.T.E. Loop 5K Run/Walk – October 23!

7-28-21 Pat and Jean found this perfect crawl/body pit on the south end of Prince George. Jean, working toward certification, located the chamber of DEB44 within 5 minutes!
7-28-21 DEB45 was laid low on the beach and in a flat area. Jean located the egg chamber and together, she and Pat moved the eggs back to the slant of the dune.
7-28-21 Depredation by foxes and coyotes of sea turtle nests is so unfortunate and upsetting to volunteers. Last night, a coyote pulled out a large number of eggs out of DEB02 by tunneling into the chamber of DEB02. We will inventory the remaining contents Thursday at 6:00 p.m.
7-28-21 As volunteers we want to know what predator is breaking into these nests. Donna’s photo shows a coyote was guilty of depredating DEB02 between WW#3 and #4.
7-28-21 With the outgoing track much longer than the incoming, Donna had a good feeling this was a nest just north WW#6! The difference in crawls indicates the turtle spent about 1.5 – 2 hours on the beach.
7-28-21 The body pit area with fluffy sand covering the tracks was another indicator that this was a nest.
7-28-21 Donna located the egg chamber of DEB43 and left it natural.